Ruling Party No. 2 in Japan: "Friendly Talks with Park Ji-won... Confident in Trust Relationship"

Nikai Toshihiro, Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] The second-in-command of Japan's ruling party, who met with Park Ji-won, Director of the National Intelligence Service visiting Japan, expressed expectations for the improvement of Korea-Japan relations.

According to NHK broadcast on the 9th, Toshihiro Nikai, Secretary-General of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, who met with Director Park the previous day, stated at a press conference, "We had a very friendly conversation and I gained confidence that we can maintain a relationship of trust."

He added, "We had a frank exchange of opinions regarding the relationship with Korea, a very important neighboring country. Since there are the other party's positions, I will refrain from mentioning the details."

Secretary-General Nikai is known to have maintained a 'brotherhood' level relationship with Director Park for about 20 years. While defining the meeting the previous day as "centered on renewing old ties as longtime friends," he also interpreted it in connection with Korea-Japan relations.

Meanwhile, Director Park is expected to pay a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga as early as the 10th. If a meeting between Director Park and Prime Minister Suga takes place, attention will focus on what kind of dialogue will occur regarding pending issues between Korea and Japan, such as the forced labor rulings during the Japanese colonial period. Director Park was the first high-ranking official from the Korean government to visit Japan since the launch of the Suga administration in September this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.