Presidential Office Responds to Negative Japanese Reports on Korea-Japan Summit: "No Comment at This Time"

Senior Official "Not Much to Mention"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is holding a trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) at the IFEMA Convention Center in Madrid, Spain, on June 29.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 18th (local time), the Presidential Office refrained from commenting on Japanese media reports stating that "the possibility of a Korea-Japan summit is uncertain," saying, "There is not much to mention at this time. We will make no comment."

A senior official from the Presidential Office, accompanying President Yoon Suk-yeol on his tour of the UK, the US, and Canada, responded to related questions from reporters in London that evening by saying, "Regarding the Korea-Japan summit, we officially have no comment."

The official added, "Is this an unexpected issue? It is not to that extent," and said, "We will speak when there is a good opportunity and conclusion in the future."

Since the Presidential Office has already officially announced the agreement on the Korea-Japan summit, it appears they judged that it is inappropriate for the two governments to expose differing opinions through the media.

Earlier, Kim Tae-hyo, First Deputy Director of the National Security Office, introduced on the 15th, "We are pursuing bilateral meetings with major country leaders attending the UN General Assembly on the 20th and 21st," and "Although the schedule is fluid, we have currently agreed to hold Korea-US and Korea-Japan summits and are coordinating the timing."

In response, the Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese conservative newspaper, reported that Japan is leaning toward not holding the Korea-Japan summit, and that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs protested to the Korean side, saying, "It concerns the trust relationship. Please refrain from announcements not based on facts." However, they did not rule out the possibility of the Korea-Japan leaders meeting in an informal 'poolside' format outside the official meeting venue during the multilateral conference.

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