Japan foreign minister to visit S.Korea to shore up security cooperation

 

FILE – Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya look on during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Lima, Peru, Nov. 14, 2024.

TOKYO —

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will travel to South Korea on Monday to shore up security cooperation between the East Asian neighbors and their mutual U.S. ally that is meant to counter China\’s growing regional power.

It marks the first time in seven years that a Japanese foreign minister will visit South Korea for a bilateral meeting with their South Korean counterpart, Japan\’s government said. Iwaya will also meet with South Korea\’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok, Tokyo said.

Iwaya aims to "reconfirm" the importance of relations and that the two countries will continue to coordinate policies including those on North Korea in the "light of the current strategic environment," it said in a press release.

Deepening trilateral security cooperation could be more difficult amid the political turmoil in South Korea prompted by the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The transition to a second Trump administration on Jan. 20 also means that none of the original leaders who established the three-way security cooperation pact in 2023 – U.S. President Joe Biden, Yoon, and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida—remain in power.

Reuters

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By：VOA