Top diplomats of South Korea, Japan hold talks on sidelines of APEC summit in Peru

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, held talks on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Peru, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

The top diplomats of the two nations met in Lima on Thursday (local time) to discuss bilateral ties and North Korean issues, according to the ministry.

It was the first in-person meeting between Cho and Iwaya since the Japanese diplomat took office last month with the launch of new leadership in Tokyo under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Yonhap news agency reported.

During the meeting, they decided to make efforts to “wisely” manage pending issues between the two nations and work towards upgrading the bilateral relationship to a higher level.

Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic relationship next year, Cho and Iwaya agreed to closely cooperate on preparing various commemorative projects, the ministry said.

On North Korea, they shared the view that North Korea’s troop deployment to Russia poses a “serious” threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.

To address the deepening military ties between the North and Russia, as well as Pyongyang’s nuclear issue, Cho and Iwaya stressed the importance of close cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo, and of strengthening trilateral cooperation involving the US.