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| Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, left, welcomes Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo before a reception at the state guest house in Tokyo, Sept. 27. Yonhap |
Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Wednesday and called for improved relations between the two countries, saying it serves their common interests.
Korea and Japan "are close neighbors and important cooperative partners who share democratic values and principles of market economy," Han said during the meeting with Kishida held a day after he attended the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"The new government of the Republic of Korea, which was launched in May, continues to emphasize that it is in their common interest to swiftly improve and develop Korea-Japan relations," Han said, referring to Korea by its official name.
Kishida said he is "heartily" grateful for condolences to Abe by Korea and President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Japan "received numerous polite condolences from many Koreans, including President Yoon and Prime Minister (Han Duck-soo)," Kishida said.
The meeting in Tokyo came less than a week after Yoon and Kishida held talks in New York and agreed on the need to improve relations between the two countries by resolving pending issues.
The Yoon-Kishida meeting marked the first one-on-one talks between the leaders of the two nations since December 2019 and raised hopes of improving relations badly frayed over wartime forced labor and other issues related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)
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