Former Prime Minister Suga of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held a meeting with President Yoon Sung-yeol in Seoul, South Korea, where he was visiting on the afternoon of March 31, and confirmed the importance of close cooperation between the two countries in response to the launch by North Korea on the morning of March 31.
Former Prime Minister Suga, who became the chairman of the Japan-Korea Parliamentary League in March, visited the ROK for the first time as chairman on March 3.
In the afternoon, I visited the presidential palace in Seoul and held a meeting with President Yoon Sung-nyeol for about 31 minutes.
According to Mr. Suga, at the meeting, they exchanged views on North Korea's launch on the morning of March 40 and confirmed the importance of close cooperation among the three countries, including Japan and the ROK and the United States.
In addition, in response to the request for understanding and cooperation toward the resolution of the abductions issue, President Yoon reiterated his support for the issue.
Mr. Suga expressed his recognition that Japan-ROK relations were on a track of improvement through mutual visits by Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon, and conveyed that he would like to make his own efforts as the chairman of the Parliamentary League, and President Yoon agreed.
After the meeting, Kan told reporters, "With regard to dealing with North Korea, the Japan-ROK Parliamentary League will firmly support the efforts of the governments of both countries."
President Yoon: "The relationship between the two countries has fully recovered"
According to the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea, President Yoon Sung-nyeol said in a meeting with former Prime Minister Suga of the Liberal Democratic Party, "Through three summit meetings in the past two months, the bilateral relationship has fully recovered, and the two countries, which share values and interests, should jointly respond to the diverse challenges of the international community while embodying cooperation in the fields of security, economy, and technology."
He then called for "working together so that the people of the ROK can experience the benefits of improving relations between the ROK and Japan, not only through declarations and words, but also through implementation."
In response, Mr. Suga pointed out that the changes in Japan-ROK relations that occurred in the first year since President Yoon took office would not have occurred without the president's strong leadership and determination, and conveyed his intention to make efforts at the parliamentary alliance level to spread the results of improving relations in various fields.