"Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service, Coordinating Japan Visit Next Week... Discussing Korea-Japan Issues"

TBS Reports Citing Japanese Government Officials... 'Kingmaker' Nikai Likely to Meet LDP Secretary-General and Others

Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] It was reported on the 3rd by Japanese private broadcaster TBS, citing a Japanese government official, that Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service, appears to be coordinating a visit to Japan next week to hold talks with senior Japanese government officials.

If Director Park visits Japan, he is expected to meet with key Japanese figures such as Hiroaki Takizawa, Cabinet Intelligence Officer, and Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary-General of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The Cabinet Intelligence Officer is the head of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, an organization that collects and analyzes information on Japan's critical policies and reports to the Prime Minister's Office.

TBS forecasted that Director Park is likely to exchange views with them on issues such as the forced labor compensation ruling and Japan's strengthened export controls.

Director Park built a friendship with Secretary-General Nikai while cooperating on Korea-Japan exchanges during his tenure as Minister of Culture and Tourism in 2000, when Nikai was Minister of Transport. It is also reported that the two maintained a close relationship, as Secretary-General Nikai personally visited Director Park and sent him undershirts when he was imprisoned in the past over the North Korea remittance case. Secretary-General Nikai is known as the 'kingmaker' behind Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

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