1. Director-General for Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Seo Min-jeong met with Director-General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Takehiro Funakoshi at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 16.

2. The meeting between the Directors-General was held to speed up close consultations between the diplomatic authorities of the two countries to swiftly resolve pending issues and improve bilateral relations, as agreed by the leaders of the two countries. In the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on pending issues between Korea and Japan and issues of mutual interest.

o Director-General Seo shared domestic situations, including the public hearing on ways to resolve the issue of forced labor that was held on January 12.

3. The two Directors-General agreed to continue close communication between the diplomatic authorities of the two countries at various levels.