[APEC Summit] Yoon-Kishida meet for 7th time this year…”Restore 100% of government councils”.

[Inews24 Kim Bo-sun reporter] President Yoon Seok-yeol, who attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, met with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and said, “The bilateral consultative body has been fully restored.” Prime Minister Kishida expressed hope to further advance cooperation.

President Yoon had a summit meeting with Prime Minister Kishida in San Francisco, United States on the 16th (local time). This is the seventh summit meeting between the two leaders this year.

At this event, President Yoon evaluated, “This year, exchanges have been activated in various fields, including the summit, and the bilateral consultative body has been restored, deepening cooperation between the two countries.”

He also said, “Following the Security Policy Consultative Meeting, Economic Security Dialogue, and Foreign Minister’s Strategic Dialogue resumed last month, all consultative bodies agreed upon during the visit to Japan in March have now been fully restored.”

He added, “We will continue to make efforts with Prime Minister Kishida to ensure close communication between the two countries in various fields, including the High-Level Economic Dialogue.”

Prime Minister Kishida also responded, saying, “It has only been two months since we had a meeting in India. In the meantime, the global situation, including the Middle East, has been rapidly changing.” He said, “It is reassuring that close cooperation between Japan and Korea has been achieved regarding the departure of our nationals from Israel.”

Regarding bilateral cooperation, he said, “President Yoon and I have been promoting cooperation between our countries in various fields such as politics, security, economy, and culture. I hope to further advance these efforts.”

He emphasized, “Amidst the world being at a historic turning point, we have a strong determination to lead the world through cooperation rather than division and conflict. In this regard, I believe Japan and Korea can cooperate as partners.”

It was reported that the meeting started about 20 minutes later than scheduled due to transportation issues for Prime Minister Kishida.

When entering the meeting room, Prime Minister Kishida apologized to President Yoon, saying, “I’m sorry for making you wait. I walked here because I was afraid of being late.”

At the meeting, the Korean side was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin, Director of the National Security Office Jo Tae-yong, Deputy Director of the National Security Office Kim Tae-hyo, Public Relations Secretary Kim Eun-hye, Chief Economic Adviser Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Chung-myeon, and Director of the Asian Affairs Bureau Seo Min-jeong.

On the Japanese side, Minister of Defense Murai, Director of the National Security Secretariat Akiba, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shimada, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Otsuru, Foreign Affairs Councilor Funakoshi, and Director of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Namazu were present.