SEOUL - Contrary to earlier reports, there will be no summit meeting in March between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
According to Yonhap News Agency, This statement came in response to speculation fueled by a report from Japanese broadcaster Fuji News Network, which suggested that Prime Minister Kishida might visit South Korea in late March, coinciding with Seoul's hosting of the Major League Baseball regular season's opening games. A senior presidential official clarified, "There is no Korea-Japan summit being pushed for March nor do we have any plan to hold one." Despite this, the official highlighted the flexibility in the leaders' diplomatic engagements, noting their seven meetings last year as part of the resumed "shuttle diplomacy" after a 12-year hiatus, indicating that visits could occur at any time based on mutual convenience.
SEOUL - South Korea, under the leadership of President Yoon Suk Yeol, is set to revise its vision for unification with North Korea for the first time in three decades, incorporating principles of liberal democracy. This marks a significant shift from the National Community Unification Formula introduced in August 1994 by the late President Kim Young-sam, which did not explicitly include the philosophy of liberal democracy.According to Yonhap News Agency, the existing unification policy does not reflect the current government's aim of achieving unification based on liberal democracy. The official emphasized the need to update the unification formula to ensure it embodies a future in which all North Koreans can enjoy freedom and prosperity. This move is seen as an effort to underscore the contrasting paths taken by the South and North over the past 70 years since their division. The new policy will articulate a vision and philosophy aligned with liberal democracy. In August 2022, President Yoon introduced an initiative aimed at improving North Korea's economy in exchange for denuclearization steps.