1. Director-General for Northeast Asian Affairs Kim Yong-kil of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kenji Kanasugi of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for an ROK-Japan Director-General-level meeting in Seoul on January 8, and exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, focusing on the ROK-Japan relations.

2. Director-General Kim offered to devise concrete measures to develop bilateral relations in a future-oriented manner this year, which marks the 20th anniversary of the Joint Declaration on a New ROK-Japan Partnership for the 21st Century, and to further deepen and advance cooperation in a wider range of areas.

3. Director-General Kim stressed the need to create a friendly environment between the two countries on the occasion of the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games, including through Prime Minister Abe’s visit to the ROK, which the ROK side has asked for.

o The two sides agreed to closely work together to hold an ROK-Japan-China summit meeting, to be held in Japan, as early as possible.

4. Director-General Kim explained what follow-up measures the ROK government is taking after the Task Force on Review of the ROK-Japan Agreement on the “Comfort Women” Issue announced the results of its review of the agreement. Director-General Kanasugi stressed the Japanese side’s position on the issue.

o Director-General Kim repeatedly asked for the Japanese side’s interest and cooperation to hold an working meeting between the two countries as early as possible regarding measures to follow up on the inscription of the sites of Japan's Meiji industrial revolution on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

※ In the ROK-Japan Foreign Ministers’ meeting held on December 19, 2017, the Ministers agreed to hold a working meeting between the two countries on measures to follow up on the inscription of the sites of Japan’s Meiji industrial revolution on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

5. The ROK-Japan Director-General-level meeting marks the first of its kind since the Foreign Ministers of the two countries agreed to hold the meeting on a regular basis and facilitate it in their meeting on December 19 last year. The meeting served as an opportunity for the two countries’ working-level officials to discuss issues between the two countries and engage in a robust exchange of views on ways to work together in a range of areas.

* unofficial translation