1. On the sidelines of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on September 26 to exchange views on the relations between the Republic of Korea and Japan and the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.

2. Minister Yun offered his congratulations to Japan for its selection as the host of the 2020 Summer Olympics. The two Ministers agreed to work together to make successes of the Olympics to be held in their countries consecutively –the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, ROK, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

3. Minister Yun extended his appreciation to Minister Kishida for his attendance at the opening ceremony of the Korea-Japan Cultural Festival held in Tokyo on September 21. Quoting words by Japan’s Confucian scholar Amenomori Hoshu, he commented that sincere exchanges and trust-building between the peoples of the countries will serve as the cornerstone for the future of the ROK-Japan relations.

4. Minister Yun, bringing renewed attention to President Park Geun-hye’s Liberation Day address on August 15, noted that the ROK and Japan, as close neighbors, should be partners for achieving peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia. He added that to this end, leadership should be exercised in a way that will bravely seek to heal wounds from the past.

5. Minister Yun took note of the fact that Japanese Prime Minister Abe will speak about Japan’s position on women issues in his keynote speech at the UN General Assembly on September 26. He stressed that measures that are acceptable to the victims of past wrongdoings should be taken at the earliest possible date to heal their pains and wounds. Minister Yun voiced his hope that Japan’s recent moves to strengthen its defense and security posture will be made in a way that dispels neighboring countries’ worries and doubts ensued from their shared past with Japan.

6. Minister Yun underscored that a correct view of history is the basic foundation of the ROK-Japan relations. In response, Minister Kishida noted that the Abe government remains unchanged in its position that it will succeed the former governments’ view of history and expressed hope for steady advances in the relations with the ROK, a country that shares Japan’s interests and values. Minister Yun made it clear that the ROK will not accept any attempts to gloss over the truths regarding historical issues between the two countries.

7. Minister Yun noted that the proposed inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List of the modern industrial heritage sites in Kyushu and Yamaguchi, a place of painful history of forced labor for Korean people, fails to comply with the basic spirit and purpose of the World Heritage system, and asked the Japanese government to reconsider the bid. Minister Yun expressed concern over the recently resumed anti-Korean protests by Japan’s rightist groups and asked the Japanese government to take tangible and effective measures in this regard.

8. Minister Kishida voiced his hope that the ROK would lift its ban on fisheries imports from Japan at an early date. In response, Minister Yun explained that the ban was inevitably put in place as a preventive and temporary measure in response to the growing fears and the sharp reduction in sales of Japan’s fisheries products in the ROK following radioactive water leaks from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The two sides agreed to address this issue together, while sharing relevant information as necessary.

9. With regard to North Korean issues, the two Ministers agreed that the ROK and Japan, together with the international community, should send to North Korea a clear and consistent message so as to lead it to make the right choice for change.

10. The two Ministers agreed to work to create conditions conducive to productive dialogue, while maintaining communication in various forms. 


                    Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation