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| ▲ First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-ji (R) shakes hands with his Japanese counterpart, Masataka Okano, ahead of the vice-ministerial strategic dialogue at the foreign ministry in Seoul on Oct. 5, 2023. (Yonhap) |
(3rd LD) S Korea-Japan-vice ministers
(3rd LD) S. Korea, Japan agree to keep momentum going for warming ties in 'strategic dialogue'
(ATTN: UPDATES article throughout as talks ended)
By Kim Seung-yeon
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Japan held vice-ministerial talks in Seoul on Thursday on bilateral relations and other common issues, including the recent development on North Korea's closer ties with Russia, agreeing to keep the momentum going for thawing relations, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The discussions took place during the "strategic dialogue" held between South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin and his Japanese counterpart, Masataka Okano, in Seoul earlier in the day, the first such talks in nine years as the two Asian neighbors have quickly been mending ties after years of a chill over a historical row.
Bilateral relations have thawed after South Korea decided in March to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor on its own without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.
The decision led to President Yoon Suk Yeol traveling to Tokyo later that month for summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, becoming the first South Korean president to make a bilateral visit to Japan in 12 years.
Chang said Thursday's talks were "meaningful as it helped explore in-depth methods to deepen cooperation for the bilateral relations to further develop in a forward-looking manner," according to the foreign ministry.
Calling the two countries "important neighbors," Okana noted the talks provided an "opportunity for broader discussions to elevate the Korea-Japan relations to another level."
The vice ministers agreed to work together to keep the momentum going for the improvement in bilateral relations.
The two sides also agreed to make efforts to revitalize three-way cooperation with China and continue to bolster the trilateral coordination involving the United States in responding to various regional and global challenges.
Also on the table was North Korea's recent development in relations with Russia.
"The vice ministers strongly condemned North Korea's continued nuclear and missile provocations and threats, and agreed that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan should lead a firm and united response from the international community based on close coordination," the ministry said.
Concerns have grown that Pyongyang and Moscow might have reached an arms deal that would help enhance the North's military capabilities following last month's summit between leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The meeting also came on the day that Japan discharged its second batch of treated radioactive water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean through Oct. 23, following its first release from Aug. 24 to Sept. 11.
Japan's release of the radioactive water has had little impact on the warming of relations, as Seoul has maintained the discharge will have little effect on the environment as long as it is done in a scientifically safe manner.
Reviving high-level diplomatic dialogue channels, including restoring the long-suspended "shuttle diplomacy" of regular leader visits, was part of the agreement reached at the March summit. Since then, the two leaders have held five additional summit meetings.
The strategic dialogue, established in 2005, had not taken place since the last meeting in October 2014 due to a chill in bilateral ties.
Following the meeting, Okano paid a courtesy call on South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin.
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