Tomorrow's Visit by Japanese Foreign Minister: "Will Confirm the Importance of Korea-Japan and Korea-US-Japan Relations"

Explains Reason for Visiting South Korea Amid Political Turmoil
in Appearance on NHK

▲ Takeshi Iwaya, Japanese Foreign Minister (left), and Cho Tae-yeol, Minister of Foreign Affairs (right) Photo by Yonhap News

Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi emphasized on the 13th, ahead of his first visit to South Korea since taking office, that "considering the current strategic environment, cooperation between South Korea and Japan, as well as among South Korea, the US, and Japan, remains very important both regionally and globally."

On the 12th, Foreign Minister Iwaya appeared on the local public broadcaster NHK and responded to the question, "Why are you visiting South Korea despite the political turmoil there?" with the above statement.

He said, "Although relations with South Korea have temporarily cooled at times, they significantly improved during former Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's administration," adding, "It is necessary to maintain this momentum going forward."

Foreign Minister Iwaya also stated, "We have a serious interest in domestic developments in South Korea and will continue to monitor them," and expressed his desire to "see stability restored as soon as possible and to strengthen South Korea-Japan and South Korea-US-Japan relations further."

Having taken office in October last year, Foreign Minister Iwaya is scheduled to visit South Korea on the 13th to hold a South Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol.

Both sides are expected to agree during the meeting to cooperate for the development of relations in celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic normalization this year, regardless of South Korea's political situation.

There will also likely be an exchange of views on the upcoming South Korea-China-Japan summit to be held in Japan this year.

Since the emergency martial law situation in South Korea on the 3rd of last month, the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan have spoken twice by phone, but this will be their first direct meeting.