South Korea’s newly elected President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed during a telephone conversation to strengthen bilateral relations, the South Korean presidential press secretary and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday.
The conversation took place after the leaders of the two countries announced their intention to continue coordinating their actions on North Korea.
Lee, a left-wing politician elected last week, said pragmatism is a key principle of his diplomacy and that he will continue security cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States. Lee told Ishiba that he wants to resolve geopolitical crises through trilateral cooperation with Tokyo and Washington, Lee’s spokesman, Lee Kang-joo, told reporters.
Affirming the importance of bilateral ties, the two leaders agreed to meet in person to further develop relations, Lee Kang-joo added.
Ishiba told Lee that he would like to further develop bilateral relations “through mutual efforts based on the foundation laid by the governments of both countries,” according to a statement from Japan’s Foreign Ministry.
The conversation lasted about 25 minutes, the ministry said.
Ishiba is expected to attend the G7 meeting, which begins on Sunday in Canada. Although South Korea is not a member of the G7, the presidential office announced that Lee had accepted Canada’s invitation to attend the multilateral meeting.
Despite obstacles arising from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, ties between Tokyo and Seoul have improved significantly under Lee’s predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted in December over a failed attempt to impose martial law.
