Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that the importance of bilateral cooperation with South Korea will not change, after President Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted by the country’s Constitutional Court over his short-lived declaration of martial law.
Ishiba told a parliamentary committee that the two nations working side by side is crucial for regional peace and security, noting that it is one of his government’s priorities to coordinate more closely with South Korea as this year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of their relationship.
Long chilled over issues related to their wartime past and territorial disputes, relations between Japan and South Korea had been thawing in the years since Yoon became president in 2022.
Trilateral cooperation that includes the two nations’ common ally, the United States, has also taken on greater urgency in the face of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and China’s assertiveness in the region.
“Bilateral cooperation between Japan and South Korea will be extremely important for regional peace and stability under whoever is president,” Ishiba told a session of a House of Representatives committee.
Separately, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the developments in South Korea will not change the fact that the two nations are “important neighbors that should tackle various global challenges as partners” given the severe security environment.
An election must be held in South Korea to select a successor to Yoon within 60 days. The South Korean court on Friday upheld a parliamentary impeachment motion, in a unanimous decision by its judges.
Ishiba refrained from commenting on the election, saying it is up to the people of South Korea to decide who the next leader should be.
© KYODO
© Japan Today
