1. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, who is on a visit to the Philippines to attend ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings, including the ASEAN Regional Forum, met with Japan’s new Foreign Minister Taro Kono on August 7, and exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, including the ROK-Japan relations, as well as North Korea and its nuclear issue.

o In her opening remarks, Minister Kang congratulated once again Minister Kono on being sworn in as new Foreign Minister on August 3 in the Japanese government’s cabinet reshuffle, and hoped that despite some difficulties between the ROK and Japan, the two countries will manage them well and continue to closely cooperate to advance the bilateral relations.

o Minister Kono offered to work towards future-oriented ROK-Japan relations, as the leaders of the two countries reaffirmed in their phone conversation on the same day.

2. Minister Kono hoped that President Moon Jae-in will visit Japan as soon as possible, as the leaders of the two countries agreed to resume shuttle diplomacy. Minister Kang offered to plan mutual visits by the leaders of the two countries at a convenient time for both sides.

o The two Ministers agreed to work together to hold an ROK-Japan-China summit meeting as early as possible this year.

o Minister Kono invited Minister Kang to visit Japan, and the two Ministers agreed to continue working-level coordination on mutual visits by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries.

3. The two Ministers agreed to make efforts to enhance substantive cooperation between the two countries, including cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and especially agreed to work together to facilitate people-to-people exchanges on the occasions of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics and the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

4. Minister Kono conveyed the Japanese government’s position on the ROK-Japan agreement on the “comfort women” issue, reached in late 2015. Minister Kang said that it is the reality that most Korean people can not accept the agreement, and explained the purpose and meaning of the launch of a “taskforce to review the ROK-Japan agreement on the comfort women issue” under the direct control of the Foreign Minister.

5. The two Ministers took note of the strong cooperation on the North Korean issue between the ROK and Japan, as well as among the two countries and the US, reaffirmed in the phone conversation between the leaders of the ROK and Japan (August 7) and in the ROK-Japan and ROK-US-Japan Foreign Ministers’ meetings held on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings. The two Ministers also welcomed the adoption of a new Security Council resolution on North Korea on August 5, and agreed to continue to closely communicate to induce North Korea to take the path towards denuclearization as early as possible, using all possible means, including effective sanctions against the North.

o Minister Kang said that at the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ meetings, including the ARF, a number of countries explicitly expressed their support for the ROK government’s vision and policy to improve inter-Korean relations and establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. She explained such efforts of the ROK government and the efforts to induce North Korea’s denuclearization through international cooperation will create a virtuous cycle.

6. In the ROK-Japan Foreign Ministers’ meeting, which marked the first of its kind since the inauguration of the Moon Jae-in government, the two Ministers engaged in a serious and robust exchange of views, and agreed to continue close consultations on various occasions.


* unofficial translation