Japan-Republic of Korea Relations
Japan-ROK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting
September 21, 2023
On September 21, commencing at 7:00 a.m. local time (8:00 p.m. on September 21, Japan time) for approximately 60 minutes, Ms. Kamikawa Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan held a bilateral meeting over breakfast with H.E. Dr. Park Jin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK), during her visit to New York, the United States, for the United Nations General Assembly. The summary of the meeting is as follows.
- At the outset, Minister Park offered his congratulations to Foreign Minister Kamikawa on her assumption of office.
- Minister Kamikawa stated that she looks forward to working together and maintaining good communication with Minister Park, so as to ensure that the two countries can usher in a new era in the Japan-ROK bilateral relations together as partners and the improvement of bilateral relations can be felt among the people of both countries.
- Minister Kamikawa expressed Japan’s continued support for the efforts of the ROK as the Presidency of the Japan-ROK-China trilateral process, and the two Ministers concurred on continuing close coordination.
- The two Ministers exchanged views on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region. They exchanged views on North Korea, including the recent Russia-North Korea Summit, and shared serious concern about the repeated ballistic missile launches by North Korea being carried out with an unprecedented frequency and with new modalities and patterns. Minister Kamikawa expressed her appreciation for the ROK government’s consistent support on the immediate resolution of the abductions issue and stated that she would like to continue working closely with the ROK government.
- The two Ministers affirmed that they would continue close coordination with each other to further advance the bilateral relations.