SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held his first telephone call with Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday and agreed a united response together with the United States is needed to counter North Korea’s threats, his office said.
South Korea last week welcomed Ishiba’s election as the head of Japan’s ruling party, saying it looked forward to the two countries continuing to improve ties and working together on security and economic issues under his leadership.
Yoon told Ishiba during their call the neighbours are important partners who share values and interests and invited him to continue to communicate closely and enhance cooperation, Yoon’s office said.
“The two leaders agreed that South Korea and Japan, South Korea, the United States and Japan need to unite to respond to North Korea’s continued provocations,” it said.
Ishiba, who was confirmed as prime minister on Tuesday, pledged to seek deeper ties with friendly nations to counter the gravest security threats his country has faced since World War Two.
Yoon has made it a diplomatic priority to improve ties with Tokyo and build trilateral security cooperation together with the United States by putting years of animosity stemming from Japan’s wartime history behind.
Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida and Yoon oversaw a newfound partnership after orchestrating an about-face in ties that had sunk to their lowest level in decades before Yoon came to office, prodded by U.S. President Joe Biden.
Both Yoon’s office and Japan’s foreign ministry said the two leaders agreed to meet soon.
(Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Kim Coghill)
