Yoon-Ishiba, Second Korea-Japan Summit... "Agreement to Continue Shuttle Diplomacy"

"Strong Concerns Over North Korea's Troop Deployment and Russia-North Korea Military Cooperation"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is taking a commemorative photo with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru before their summit meeting at a hotel in Lima, Peru, on the 16th (local time). Photo by Yonhap News

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru held their second summit on the 16th (local time) in Lima, Peru, where the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit is taking place, and agreed to continue shuttle diplomacy.

The Presidential Office announced that President Yoon and Prime Minister Ishiba held a Korea-Japan summit at a hotel in downtown Lima on the same day and agreed to further advance Korea-Japan relations in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan next year.

The two leaders reaffirmed that cooperation and coordination between Korea and Japan have become even more important amid the rapid changes in regional and domestic situations, and agreed to continue shuttle diplomacy without being bound by formalities.

President Yoon said, "Last month in Laos, I told the Prime Minister that I wanted to see him often, and I am really glad to meet again just a month later," adding, "Since our first summit, military cooperation between Russia and North Korea has led to the dispatch of North Korean troops, and the regional and global situation is rapidly evolving."

He continued, "At this time when close cooperation between Korea and Japan is more important than ever, the meeting with the Prime Minister is especially meaningful," and said, "I want to have in-depth discussions on ways to continuously develop bilateral relations and on the increasingly serious regional and global situations."

Prime Minister Ishiba also said, "I am very pleased to be able to meet two or three times in such a short period," adding, "I believe this is how Korea-Japan relations should originally be, and we are working to strengthen this relationship going forward."

He further emphasized, "Next year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations," and said, "I hope to make bilateral relations more suitable for the future between President Yoon and myself." In particular, he added, "Considering the recent serious security environment surrounding us, including North Korea, continuously strengthening Korea-Japan cooperation is an important task," and "I look forward to a fruitful exchange of opinions."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is holding a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru at a hotel in Lima, Peru, on the 16th (local time). Photo by Yonhap News

The Korea-Japan summit on the day took place for about 50 minutes from 2:55 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.

The two leaders evaluated that exchanges among government authorities, as well as among businesspeople, journalists, and experts, have become more active since their first meeting last month in Laos during the ASEAN summit. They also expressed hope that cooperation between the two countries will further advance in various fields, including security and economy, and agreed to discover and materialize various achievements so that the people of both countries can tangibly feel the improvement in Korea-Japan relations.

They expressed strong concerns about the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, including the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia. They agreed that Korea and Japan will cooperate more closely to ensure that the international community continues to send a united message to North Korea.

The two leaders agreed to cooperate to continue developing the Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation system under the new U.S. administration. Furthermore, given the bipartisan support for Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation in the U.S. political circles, they agreed to maintain trilateral cooperation well with the next U.S. administration as well.