Cho Taeyeol: "Korea and Japan Share Responses to Trump Administration Policies"
Cho Tae-yeol, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who visited Japan to attend the 11th Korea-China-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting, stated on the 22nd during a bilateral meeting with Japan that "amid uncertainties caused by policies such as those of the second Trump administration in the United States, we shared ways for Korea and Japan, which are in similar situations, to respond." This is Cho's first visit to Japan since his inauguration in January last year.
After the Korea-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting the previous day and the Korea-China-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting and Korea-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the same day, Minister Cho said, "We agreed to promote deeper cooperation based on a consensus on the need to develop Korea-Japan relations across both societies recently." He added, "Despite domestic circumstances, we reaffirmed the basic tone of bilateral relations and confirmed (Japan's) support and trust in our democracy."
Regarding Japan's recent additional provision of the passenger list of the Ukishima-maru, which sank while carrying Korean residents in Japan who were trying to return home immediately after liberation in 1945, Minister Cho described it as "a good example of progress on historical issues amid a positive flow in Korea-Japan relations." Excluding official visits accompanying summits, this solo visit by a Korean foreign minister to Japan is the first in about 2 years and 8 months since former Minister Park Jin in July 2022.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the possibility of Chinese President Xi Jinping attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju in the second half of this year, saying, "It felt like Korea and China discussed it assuming (his attendance) almost as a given," and added, "Unless a very unexpected situation arises, I think he will come."
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