Yoon, Japan's Kishida condemn N.K. missile launches, agree to continue talks on disputes

By Lee Haye-ah

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 13 (Yonhap) -- President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida strongly condemned North Korea's recent missile launches Sunday and agreed to continue discussions for a quick resolution of pending issues between the two countries, Yoon's office said.

The two held a summit on the sidelines of regional gatherings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phnom Penh, their second meeting in less than two months.

"The two leaders strongly condemned North Korea's recent successive ballistic missile launches as serious and grave provocative acts threatening peace and safety not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in Northeast Asia and the international community," Yoon's office said in a press release.

They also agreed to work together to strengthen trilateral security cooperation with the United States, and for a U.N. Security Council response to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

On "pending issues" between the two countries, a reference to disputes related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, Yoon and Kishida assessed the active communication under way between their diplomats and "agreed to continue discussions for a swift resolution," the presidential office said.

The neighbors have been locked in a prolonged row over Japanese firms' payment of compensation to Korean forced labor victims, with Japan insisting all matters of compensation were resolved under a 1965 bilateral treaty.

"The two leaders welcomed the recent swift recovery of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and expressed their hope for an expansion of exchanges between the peoples of the two nations," the presidential office said.

Yoon and Kishida also discussed their respective Indo-Pacific strategies, and agreed to work together for an inclusive, resilient, safe, free and open Indo-Pacific region.

At the summit's opening, Kishida extended his condolences to the bereaved families and the South Korean people over the Itaewon crowd crush, and Yoon responded by expressing his condolences over the deaths of two Japanese nationals in the tragedy.

The two agreed to continue communication at the leader level.

hague@yna.co.kr
(END)