Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Seventh South-North Ministerial Talks

August 16, 2002

On August 14, at the Seventh South-North Ministerial Talks held after an interval of nine months since November 2001, South and North Korea confirmed that they had the intention to implement the South-North Joint Declaration announced on June 15, 2000, and reached a concrete agreement to conduct bilateral talks and cooperation. The Government of Japan welcomes this as a move contributing to the easing of tensions in the Korean Peninsula.
Based on the result of the Talks, the Government of Japan strongly expects that talks and exchanges between South and North Korea will continue to make progress, and that tensions in the Korean Peninsula will be relaxed.

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