Nuclear envoys of S. Korea, Japan hold consultations over N.K. provocations

SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- Top South Korean and Japanese nuclear envoys held consultations Wednesday on ways to deal with North Korea's continued provocations highlighted by its recent string of ballistic missile launches, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Kim Gunn, the ministry's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, met with his Japanese counterpart, Takehiro Funakoshi, at the South Korean foreign ministry in Seoul. They previously met in Tokyo early last month together with their U.S. counterpart, Sung Kim.

The two sides exchanged views on the situation surrounding North Korea, including on Pyongyang's adoption of a new law that opens the door for preemptive nuclear strikes and recent missile drills carried out under the premise of using tactical nuclear arms.

They also shared the view that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are maintaining close security cooperation against the North's threats and agreed to further strengthen joint efforts to bring Pyongyang back to dialogue for denuclearization, the ministry added.

The meeting follows a summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month.

Yoon and Kishida also spoke over the phone last week in condemning North Korea's missile provocations and agreed to work together in responding to the North's threats.

The exchanges raised hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to warm Seoul-Tokyo relations frayed due to disputes over wartime forced labor and other issues related to Japan's 1910-45 brutal colonial rule of Korea.

On Tuesday, Funakoshi held a separate meeting with Lee Sang-ryol, director general for Asia and Pacific affairs at South Korea's foreign ministry, over the two countries' wartime forced labor issue.

odissy@yna.co.kr
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