Japan's foreign minister visits South Korea for the first time in seven years - Japan-South Korea foreign ministers' meeting

On the 13th, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol said at a joint press conference held after the Japan-South Korea foreign ministers' meeting, "We have decided to steadily develop the Korea-Japan relationship, no matter what the circumstances."
"We reaffirmed the consistent position of the Japanese government that it places importance on Korea-Japan relations," he said. "In today's meeting, I confirmed that the basic tone of our diplomatic policy toward Japan will continue to be maintained without change," he added.
"It was the first time in about seven years that a Japanese foreign minister visited South Korea, and the first time in 14 years that the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea held a joint press conference.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Foreign Minister Cho emphasized the close cooperation between the two countries, saying, "Improvement of Korea-Japan relations is not only the driving force behind the trilateral cooperation between Korea, the United States and Japan, but also the fact that the summit was held last year for the first time in four and a half years.
"We also confirmed that the resilience of trilateral cooperation among Korea, Japan and China is a key factor in the recovery," said Takeshi Iwaya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
"In the current strategic environment, the importance of bilateral relations remains unchanged," he said.