South Korea will continue efforts to hold high-level talks with the United States and trilaterally with Japan to further strengthen the three-way security cooperation, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.
The ministry made the pledge in a report for the annual parliamentary audit, as a follow-up step to the flurry of diplomacy between Seoul and Washington and also among the two and Tokyo, including the first-ever three-way Camp David summit in the U.S. in August.
"We will work to ensure that high-level follow-up consultations continue to take place between South Korea and the United States, and among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, and make every effort to implement follow-up measures at a pan-government level for the further development of the South Korea-U.S. alliance," the ministry said in the report.
At the Camp David summit, President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to significantly expand trilateral security cooperation, with a pledge to immediately consult one another in the event of common threats, such as North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile provocations.
On relations with Japan, the ministry said it will work to keep up the momentum for thawing bilateral ties, created after South Korea decided to compensate the Korean victims of wartime forced labor under Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule without asking for contributions from Japanese companies.
Seoul's decision led to a dramatic warming of relations with Tokyo and the resumption of "shuttle diplomacy," or regular visits of their leaders. Yoon and Kishida visited each other's country in March and May, respectively, the first bilateral trips of the leaders of the two neighbors in 12 years.
The ministry also vowed a "thorough monitoring" of Japan's discharge process for the treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, prioritizing the safety and health of the Korean people.
The ministry reaffirmed it will pursue "a more mature and healthy" relationship with China, with a goal to resume the long-suspended three-way summit with China and Japan within this year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency