Seoul's foreign minister, Koizumi discuss shared economic priorities
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi exchanged views on overall bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo and ways to enhance economic cooperation, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said Monday.
Cho held separate talks with Koizumi, who visited South Korea on Monday afternoon, at the Foreign Ministry building in Seoul.
'The two ministers also exchanged views on mutually interesting agenda items in the economic sector and emphasized the need for close communication between the two countries on matters of common interest and pending issues,' the Foreign Ministry said in a Korean-language statement, without sharing further details.
However, Koizumi further disclosed Monday that he and Cho 'conducted a frank exchange of opinions regarding various issues between the two countries,' following the meeting on his official X account.
'I called for the lifting of import restrictions on Japanese marine products and raised the matter of the safety of Japanese food products," Koizumi said in his Japanese-language post.
'Toward the resolution of pending issues since the Great East Japan Earthquake, I will steadily build up progress one by one,' Koizumi added, referring to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
In September 2013, South Korea banned all seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures — Fukushima, Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Chiba — due to concerns over radiation contamination following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant meltdown.
Koizumi embarked on his three-day trip to South Korea on Saturday to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Food Security Ministerial Meeting on Sunday in Incheon. Koizumi also attended a trilateral meeting of agricultural ministers from Korea, Japan and China on Monday, which took place for the first time in seven years since 2018.
'Minister Cho stated that more active communication at all levels is necessary in order to develop Korea–Japan relations, which mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties, in a more solid, mature and future-oriented way,' the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said in the statement.
'Minister Koizumi said that he hopes that ways of cooperation between the two countries in various fields will be discussed in more concrete terms, expressing agreement with the view that at all levels there should be greater attention and discussions to advance a future-oriented development of Korea–Japan relations,' the Foreign Ministry added.
Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries explained that Koizumi and Cho "exchanged views on various issues between the two countries, including trade issues" in its separate press statement.
Cho's separate meeting with Koizumi commanded attention, in light of his rise as a contender to be the next leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, amid domestic political turbulence following the party's recent election debacle.
The LDP-led coalition's loss of its upper house majority in a historic defeat in the July 20 election has left the fate of Prime Minister and party leader Shigeru Ishiba hanging in the balance.
A recent public opinion poll conducted by Japan News Network on Aug. 2 and 3 among 2,531 people nationwide aged 18 or older found that Koizumi was favored, when asked who would be the most suitable as the next prime minister, should Ishiba step down.
Koizumi topped the poll with the support of 20.4 percent of respondents, followed by former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi with 16.7 percent.
The Foreign Ministry in Seoul previously explained that the meeting between Cho and Koizumi was part of Seoul's efforts to seek various high-level exchanges to forge a more solid and mature relationship between Korea and Japan.
As the most pertinent example, Cho visited Tokyo on July 29 for a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya — the first destination of his inaugural overseas trip as South Korea's top diplomat. The choice was considered unusual, coming before his visit to Washington on July 31 to meet with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Asahi Shimbun daily on Saturday reported, citing multiple Japanese government sources, that South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung is most likely to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Aug. 23, before heading to the United States for his meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Lee pardons ex-Justice Minister Cho Kuk, cites need for national unity
President Lee Jae Myung on Monday pardoned former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, a key architect of former President Moon Jae-in's prosecutorial reforms, who fell from grace over a college admissions scandal involving his children. Effective Friday, the pardon, approved during an extraordinary Cabinet meeting, not only frees Cho from serving his sentence but also restores his eligibility to run for public office — potentially allowing him to contest in the 2026 local elections. Cho was one of the 2,188 people with criminal convictions who were granted a presidential pardon. The pardon will serve as an opportunity to achieve national unity by overcoming social division and conflict, Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said in a media briefing at the Government Complex Seoul on Monday. Lee's spokesperson Kang Yu-jung also said Lee sympathized with the Justice Ministry's proposal to pardon figures including Cho. Convicted of forging academic credentials for his children to help their college admission and abuse of power over a government audit, Cho has been in prison since December, when his two-year sentence was finalized at the top court. Had he completed his jail term in December 2026, he would have been ineligible to stand as a candidate until December 2031 under the Public Official Election Act, as the law bans him from running for office for the following five years. Cho, a former Seoul National University law professor, was a key ally of Moon and a prominent advocate for prosecutorial reform. As justice minister in 2019, he sought to limit the powers of prosecutors but resigned just 35 days into the job amid an investigation into a swath of financial and academic malpractice involving him and his family. Prosecutors investigated Cho after revelations that his daughter had received unfair advantages through falsified or exaggerated extracurricular records, including being wrongfully listed as the first author of a research paper. In 2024, his daughter Cho Min was found guilty of using forged documents to enter university and medical school, fined 10 million won ($7,500), and stripped of her medical degree. The probe into Cho was led by then-Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol, whose high-profile clash with Moon's administration forced him out of the prosecution and fueled his rise in politics. Yoon won the 2022 presidential election. Cho later founded the Rebuilding Korea Party, which secured 12 seats in the 300-member National Assembly in April 2024. Cho has repeatedly called the prosecution politically motivated, a view echoed by Moon, who urged the incumbent presidential office to grant him clemency last week. Also pardoned Monday were Cho's wife Chung Kyung-shim, who was handed a four-year sentence for related offenses, and former liberal lawmaker Choe Kang-wook, who was convicted of issuing a false internship certificate for Cho's son. Also among the pardoned were former Seoul education chief Cho Hee-yeon, who lost his seat after he was convicted of abusing his power in the process of hiring five teachers; human rights activist-turned-liberal politician Yoon Mi-hyang, who was handed down a suspended sentence for embezzling donations to "comfort women," victims of sex slavery during the Japanese colonial rule. Conservative politicians such as former lawmakers Jung Chan-min, Hong Moon-jong and Shim Hak-bong were also granted pardons. Among the entrepreneurs was SK Networks Chairman Chey Shin-won. President Lee also granted clemency to 184 cargo truck drivers who were convicted of instigating violence during their nationwide strike when Lee's conservative predecessor, Yoon, was in office. Alongside, administrative disciplinary measures, such as speeding tickets, will be rescinded for some 830,000 people, and some 3.24 million people will have their loan delinquency records erased, according to the government. Lee's decision follows a decision by the Amnesty Review Committee under the Justice Ministry that was chaired by Minister Jung the previous week. The decision was made just before the National Liberation Day holiday which falls on Friday. A South Korean president tends to grant presidential amnesties marking either the Aug. 15 Liberation Day or the Lunar New Year's Day.
Korea Herald
2 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Police investigate Korean American professor on suspicion of defaming President Lee
The police have opened an investigation into Korean American professor Morse Tan on suspicion of making false claims about President Lee Jae Myung. They have also asked the Justice Ministry to issue an entry notification order to report him if he reenters South Korea. According to local media reports, an official from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Monday that Tan had been booked in late July on charges of defamation. Tan, a dean of Liberty University's School of Law and former US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice under the first Donald Trump administration between 2017 and 2021, is accused of promoting conspiracy theories about election fraud in Korea. They include claims that the June 3 election won by Lee was rigged. The investigation was opened after civic group Freedom Korea National Defence Corps filed a complaint with the South Korean police. The details of the complaint include remarks Tan made at an event in Washington in June, in which Tan claimed that Lee was involved in gang rape and the murder of a girl during his youth. He further said that the president was sent to a juvenile detention center and was therefore unable to finish middle and high school. South Korean law allows the domestic prosecution of crimes committed abroad against Korean nationals, but in practice this requires the suspect to be in Korea. Tan is also suspected of repeating similar remarks during his visit to Korea in July, when he was invited to be a speaker at Eunpyeong Jeil Church in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul.
Korea Herald
6 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Top diplomats of S. Korea, Britain discuss bilateral ties in 1st phone talks
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun spoke with his British counterpart, David Lammy, by phone Monday to discuss ways to advance their strategic partnership and other security issues, his office said. Cho noted that the two countries have actively engaged in high-level exchanges since the launch of the Lee Jae Myung government in June and urged Britain's active support for the new administration's foreign policy, according to the ministry. Additionally, Cho expressed hope for closer cooperation in upgrading their bilateral free trade agreement as well as in the economic and artificial intelligence sectors. In response, Lammy voiced his expectation that the two sides will closely communicate for the continued development of the bilateral relationship in key areas, including trade, defense and climate change. The two ministers also exchanged their views on the security of the Korean Peninsula and the situation in Ukraine, and agreed to meet at an early date for in-depth discussions on further strengthening bilateral ties. (Yonhap)
