Ex-PM Ishiba Stresses Need to Deepen Japan-S. Korea Ties

Seoul, Sept. 8 (Jiji Press)–Former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed the importance of strengthening Japan-South Korea relations in a meeting with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik in Seoul on Tuesday. “Compared with the situation in 2002, when I first became director-general of the former Defense Agency (now the Defense Ministry), U.S. power has been declining,” Ishiba said. “Strengthening Japan-South Korea relations is increasingly necessary for regional stability,” he added. Ishiba visited South Korea to attend a forum hosted by a South Korean media company. South Korean public opinion toward Ishiba is broadly favorable, as many people view him as taking a sincere approach to the historical issues between the two countries. Cho stressed that exchanges between the two countries have become more active not only at the government level but also in the private sector, building on the foundation laid by Ishiba and President Lee Jae-myung, and that future-oriented cooperation between the two countries has been strengthened. Ishiba also met with South Korean Prime Minister Han Seong-sook. Meanwhile, Japanese Vice Minister of Defense for International Affairs Atsushi Ando, who is visiting South Korea to attend the Seoul Defense Dialogue public-private seminar being held in the South Korean capital, met with South Korean Vice Defense Minister Lee Doo-hee on Tuesday. The two shared the view that bilateral cooperation and trilateral cooperation including the United States are important in light of the situation surrounding North Korea, and agreed to continue working to deepen the two countries’ defense cooperation. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]