1. On March 21, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se met with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, who is on a visit to the Republic of Korea to attend an ROK-Japan-China Foreign Ministers’ meeting. In their bilateral meeting, the top diplomats exchanged views on a wide range of matters, including the ROK-Japan relations, North Korean issues, regional and global issues.

* The visit of Minister Kishida to the ROK marked the first of its kind since his taking up the post in December 2012, and the ROK-Japan Foreign Ministers’ meeting was the first of its kind in 2015, the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations.

2. The two Ministers agreed that with the year 2015 marking the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations, the two countries will make efforts to build new cooperative ties while squarely facing their history. As part of such efforts, in particular, they agreed to encourage progress in the ongoing bilateral consultations to resolve the issue of sexual slavery victims drafted by Japan’s Imperial Army during World War II.

3. The two Ministers agreed that the governments of the two countries will hold a reception, a joint academic conference and an expanded Korea-Japan Festival to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations. They also agreed to expand their junior-diplomat exchange program and dispatch their junior diplomats to each other’s countries under it.

* The ROK-Japan junior-diplomat exchange program has called for dispatching one diplomat from one country to the other on an alternate year basis. From the year 2015 and on, the two countries will send a diplomat each to each other every year.

4. Minister Yun underscored the ROK government’s position that Japan’s discussions on defense and security issues should take place in line with the spirit of its pacifist constitution and in a transparent way. Minister Kishida, mentioning Japan’s plan to implement defense and security policies in a transparent manner, proposed that the two countries maintain close communication between their foreign affairs and defense authorities, including by holding bilateral security policy consultations (2+2 director-general-level dialogue between their Foreign and Defense Ministries).

5. The two Ministers, sharing deep concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, agreed on the need to maintain close collaboration between the ROK and Japan and among the ROK, the US and Japan on North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues. In addition, they agreed to work closely together to make a success of the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) set to take place in New York on April 27.

6. Minister Yun explained the purpose of the Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative, one of the Park Geun-hye government’s main foreign policies, as well as the ROK government’s plan to implement it. In response, Minister Kishida hailed the policy and expressed willingness to cooperate on it in a forward-looking way.

7. Minister Kishida commended and extended appreciation to Minister Yun for his leading role in making an ROK-Japan-China Foreign Ministers’ meeting materialize. The two Ministers agreed to take the opportunity of the trilateral Foreign Ministers’ meeting in 2015 to restore the trilateral cooperation mechanism on track and agreed to make joint efforts to create an atmosphere for a trilateral summit to take place as soon as possible.

8. The two Ministers agreed to create an atmosphere conducive to improving bilateral relations through various forms of communication. Minister Kishida invited Minister Yun to visit Japan, to which Minister Yun responded that he will mull over visiting Japan at an appropriate time. 


               Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation