Senior diplomats of South Korea, Japan to hold ‘strategic dialogue’ this week

Seoul, Nov 6 (IANS) South Korea and Japan will hold vice-ministerial diplomatic talks later this week to discuss bilateral relations, regional and global issues, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.

The 16th strategic dialogue will take place in Seoul on Friday, led by First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong said in a press briefing.

“There will be in-depth discussions on a broad range of issues, including the South Korea-Japan bilateral relations, regional situations and international issues,” Lee said, Yonhap news agency reported.

It marks the first strategic dialogue to be held since the leadership changes in both countries. The same talks previously took place in June last year under the preceding governments.

Friday’s talks come as Seoul and Tokyo seek to maintain the positive momentum in the bilateral ties that have dramatically improved over the past two years.

At their first one-on-one talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Gyeongju last week, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shared the need to enhance cooperation in a future-oriented manner.

The summit is seen as having dispelled worries about the new Japanese leader’s approach to the neighboring country, given her widely known hawkish stance on past history issues stemming from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Park and Funakoshi last met in Tokyo in July for the trilateral talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

On October 30, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had shared a consensus on the need to deepen bilateral cooperation amid rapidly shifting global dynamics in their first summit Thursday.

During their meeting held on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Gyeongju, Lee reaffirmed his commitment to work closely together with Japan.

“Amid the rapidly changing international dynamics and trade environment, I think South Korea and Japan, neighboring countries that share many similarities, must strengthen future-oriented cooperation more than ever,” Lee had said in his opening remarks.

Lee had said South Korea and Japan share many common challenges both at home and abroad, and emphasised the importance of working together through coordination.

“By sharing experiences and working together, I believe we can successfully address not only domestic issues but also international ones,” he had said.

Takaichi described the two nations as “neighbouring countries” that are important to each other and expressed hope for closer cooperation as this year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalisation of bilateral relations.

“I am confident that building upon the foundation of Japan-Korea relations established thus far, it will be beneficial for both nations to develop our ties in a future-oriented and stable manner,” Takaichi had said through a translator.

Takaichi had emphasised the importance of strengthening both the bilateral relationship and trilateral coordination among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington amid the current “strategic environment.”

During the roughly 40-minute meeting, the two leaders avoided direct reference to historical disputes. Instead, Lee had noted that South Korea and Japan are “neighbours who share the same front yard” and sometimes “get emotionally hurt like family,” presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung told reporters.

“The two leaders shared the consensus that practical cooperation should continue to expand and agreed to further develop coordination in various areas — including advanced technologies, economic security, and cultural and social exchanges — through active shuttle diplomacy between the leaders,” the presidential office said in a release.

–IANS

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