Leaders of S. Korea, Japan agree to strive to improve ties

ABC News:

SEOUL, South Korea — The leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to accelerate efforts to mend ties frayed over Japan’s past colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as they held their countries’ first summit talks in nearly three years on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, both governments announced Thursday.

The meeting occurred after Tokyo denied Seoul’s earlier announcement they had agreed on the summit, in a sign of the delicate nature of their current relations.

During their 30-minute meeting Wednesday in New York, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shared the need to improve bilateral ties and agreed to instruct their respective diplomats to step up talks for that, Yoon’s office said in a statement.

Kishida’s office confirmed the meeting. A separate Japanese Foreign Ministry statement said the two leaders agreed to promote cooperation between the two countries as well as with the United States. It said the leaders shared the need to restore sound relations.

Yoon’s office said the two leaders also jointly expressed serious concerns about North Korea’s recent legislation authorizing the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in certain conditions and the North’s reported moves to conduct its first nuclear test in five years. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Kishida and Yoon agreed to further cooperate in their response to North Korea.