1. During her visit to the US, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha met with Foreign Minister Taro Kono of Japan in Washington DC on March 17, during which the top diplomats thoroughly exchanged views on matters of mutual concern -- mainly nuclear and other issues of North Korea as well as the Republic of Korea-Japan relations.

2. The two Ministers drew a common understanding that the plan to hold inter-Korean and US-North Korea summit talks and other recent, rapid developments in the situation on the Korean Peninsula will become significant milestones toward a fundamental resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and the establishment of a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. They agreed to further step up the already close cooperation and communication between the ROK and Japan as well as among the two countries and the US to these ends.

° Minister Kang extended appreciation to the Japanese government for its recent positive message expressing its commitment to improving relations with North Korea and calling for peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region. She suggested that the ROK and Japan jointly seek to further boost the valuable momentum of dialogue built around the PyeongChang Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

° Minister Kono, commending the ROK for its vigorous efforts to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, voiced hope that as the inter-Korean relations move forward, the issue concerning the Japanese abductees to North Korea and others between Japan and the North will be resolved.

3. The two Ministers agreed to step up communication at various levels in a bid to bolster the ROK-Japan cooperation and thereby to achieve advances in the bilateral relations in a future-oriented way.

° The two sides agreed to work closely together for ROK-Japan-China summit talks to take place as soon as possible and to mull over the possibility of the ROK President’s visit to Japan.

° The two sides also agreed to have the Foreign Ministries of the two countries consult with each other to arrange Minister Kono’s visit to the ROK as soon as possible.

° The two Ministers, mindful of the year 2018 as the 20^th anniversary of the adoption of the “Joint Declaration: A New Korea-Japan Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century,” agreed to seek various specific ways to increase people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

* unofficial translation