Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated on the 29th, "In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan next year, we agreed to frequently hold summit meetings with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to make it a year of significant progress in Korea-Japan relations."
Prime Minister Ishiba made these remarks regarding his diplomatic achievements since taking office in January during a policy speech at the extraordinary session of the National Diet on the same day.
Prime Minister Ishiba held summit meetings with President Yoon in Laos and Peru, coinciding with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit held in Laos last month and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit held in Peru in mid-month. In Peru, President Yoon, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Prime Minister Ishiba held a trilateral summit meeting among Korea, the U.S., and Japan.
In his first National Diet speech on the 4th of last month after taking office, Prime Minister Ishiba stated regarding Korea-Japan relations, "Under the current strategic environment, close cooperation between Korea and Japan is extremely important for the mutual interests of both sides."
According to a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Prime Minister Ishiba is coordinating plans to visit South Korea in early January next year.
Additionally, on the same day, Prime Minister Ishiba emphasized that the issue of Japanese abductees is a very important task and stated, "We confirmed continuous cooperation during the U.S.-Japan and Korea-Japan summit meetings."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
