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| ▲ Vice Unification Minister Kim Ki-woong speaks at an interagency government meeting on North Korea's human rights in Seoul, in this file photo taken Dec. 9, 2022. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Gunn (R), South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, poses for a photo with Takehiro Funakoshi, head of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, prior to holding talks in Seoul on Dec. 19, 2022, in this file photo released by the South Korean foreign ministry. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) vice minister-Japan envoy
(LEAD) Vice unification minister to meet Japanese nuclear envoy to discuss N. Korea
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details from 5th para; ADDS photo)
SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- Vice Unification Minister Kim Ki-woong will meet Japan's top nuclear envoy this week to discuss ways to boost bilateral ties amid North Korea's continued provocations, the unification ministry said Monday.
The talks between Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs at Tokyo's foreign ministry, will be held Thursday as a follow-up measure to the unification minister's visit to Japan last month.
During the trip, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se met with top Japanese government officials and proposed establishing a consultative channel between Seoul's unification ministry and Tokyo's foreign ministry.
"Last month, the unification minister agreed to strengthen cooperation between South Korea and Japan on North Korea policies during his visit to Japan, and (this week's) meeting is a follow-up to the visit," Koo Byoung-sam, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.
Also, Funakoshi may hold separate meetings with his counterparts at Seoul's foreign ministry, including Kim Gunn, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, and Seo Min-jung, director general for Asia and Pacific affairs.
The trip will mark Funakoshi's first visit to South Korea since Seoul last month announced its plan to compensate Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor on its own, without asking Japan for contributions.
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