Japan-Korea leaders: ”Rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula cannot shift the blame to Japan-Korea and Japan-US-Korea”

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol, who visited Laos to attend the ASEAN Summit, met with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba for the first time on the 10th local time. At this meeting, the two leaders discussed people-to-people exchanges.
The two sides discussed a wide range of topics, from the promotion of international peace and stability to the North Korean nuclear issue and concerns over military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
"We must not shift the responsibility for this to Japan, South Korea, or the three countries of Japan, the United States, and South Korea," Kim Tae Hee, first vice director of the National Security Council of South Korea, said at a press center in Seoul.
President Yoon held talks with Prime Minister Ishiba on the occasion of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit. The talks began at 3:45 p.m. Lao time.
The meeting lasted for 40 minutes from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The two leaders also shared concerns about North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, as well as illegal cyber activities, Kim said.
"We expressed serious concerns that the North Korean-Russian military cooperation is being carried out in violation of UN Security Council resolutions," it said, adding that "military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is also illegal."
"We have decided to take the ASEAN-related meetings as an opportunity to cooperate in sending a strong warning message to North Korea and the forces that support it," he said.
He added, "President Yoon believes that it is his mission to develop Japan-Korea relations in a future-oriented manner," and added, "Based on the trust between the leaders of the two countries over the past two years, active and high-level dialogue will be held."
"I believe that this is the result of joint efforts by the political, financial and civil societies of both countries," said Prime Minister Ishiba.
Kim was quoted as saying, "I understand that very well," and "I will firmly inherit the Japan-Korea relations that President Yoon and former Prime Minister Kishida have greatly developed."
The two leaders stated, "Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations next year, let us actively pursue shuttle diplomacy and promote exchanges between the people of our two countries."
"The leaders of the two countries agreed to hold concrete discussions on simplifying immigration procedures as the two countries enter an era in which 10 million people visit each other," Kim said.
"In response to the North Korean missile threat, we have decided to continue to closely operate the real-time missile warning information sharing system that Japan, the United States and South Korea have completed and are operating," he said.
On this day, Prime Minister Ishiba expressed his support for the unified doctrine of August 15, and also announced plans for cooperation in advanced technology and joint research related to hydrogen and ammonia in the economic field.
He also expressed his intention to further advance this.