Japan’s Kishida, South Korea’s Yoon Confirm to Cooperate Against N. Korea in San Francisco

By Chie Morifuji / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:05 JST, November 17, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday confirmed their intention to work bilaterally and trilaterally with the United States to ensure security in East Asia, with an eye on such issues as North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile development.

During their 35-minute meeting in San Francisco, the two leaders also agreed to work to maintain and strengthen “a free and open international order” in the Indo-Pacific.

It was for seventh time for the two leaders to meet this year.

“In conjunction with President Yoon, we have moved Japan-Korea cooperation forward in various fields, including politics and security,” Kishida said at the meeting. “We intend to build further on this momentum.”

Kishida also referred to the two nations’ cooperation on the evacuation of Japanese and Korean nationals from Israel as “a very encouraging move.”

Touching upon the resumption of security-related talks between diplomatic and defense authorities, Yoon said, “There was a 100% revival of the dialogue that we agreed to continue when I visited Japan in March.”