1. On the occasion of the dinner of the ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Madrid, the Kingdom of Spain, on the evening of December 15, local time, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang, Kyung-wha had a pull-aside meeting for about ten minutes with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Toshimitsu Motegi, and exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, including Japan’s export- restrictive measures and the North Korean nuclear issue.

2. Foreign Minister Kang welcomed the export control policy dialogue between the Korean and Japanese export control authorities to be held on December 16, and underscored the need for the dialogue to lead to the Japanese side’s prompt withdrawal of its export-restrictive measures.

3. In addition, Ministers Kang and Motegi agreed to continue close communication between the diplomatic authorities of the two countries on the North Korean nuclear issue, and continue to make coordinated efforts to hold an ROK-Japan summit on the occasion of the ROK-Japan-China Trilateral Summit.