'Future' Improvement Will Expressed in 1800 Characters After 102 Minutes of Close Coverage

May Press Conference Statement Significantly Larger Than March Summit
Focus on Economy, Security, and Future... Yoon Repeatedly Emphasizes 'Future Generation'
Expansion of Washington Declaration, Normalization of Economic Exchanges... Major Achievements

The South Korean and Japanese leaders, who met after 52 days, spent 102 minutes closely engaging and promising a new future. Both leaders delivered longer remarks than at their summit in Tokyo last March, focusing on the 'future.' Despite criticisms that they addressed historical issues, President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida concentrated thoroughly on the economy and security. The presidential office interprets this as a newly transformed cooperation system among South Korea, Japan, and the US, extending beyond just Korea-Japan and US-Japan relations.

On the 7th, following a 39-minute small-group meeting and a 63-minute expanded meeting, the joint statements released by the two leaders each contained about 1,800 to 1,900 characters. This is a significant increase compared to the 1,200 to 1,300 characters in the statement from the March summit, with the content focusing more on achievements in security and economic aspects than before.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Both leaders frequently used the words 'economy,' 'security,' and 'future.' President Yoon emphasized the 'future generation,' stating, "We will promote deeper bilateral cooperation toward a new future," while Prime Minister Kishida also stressed, "As the Prime Minister of Japan, it is my duty to cooperate with South Korea for the future."

The outcomes from the two summits in March and May also centered on the economy and security. Above all, President Yoon presented a new role for Japan in the 'Washington Declaration,' considered the greatest achievement of his recent state visit to the US. Regarding whether the 'Washington Declaration,' which includes measures to strengthen extended deterrence between South Korea and the US, could be expanded to trilateral cooperation with Japan, President Yoon stated that "Japan's participation is not excluded." The 'Washington Declaration' is not a finalized agreement but an ongoing process of discussion, joint planning, and implementation, meaning cooperation is always possible.

This trilateral security cooperation system among South Korea, Japan, and the US is expected to be further solidified at this month's G7 Hiroshima summit. President Yoon welcomed the progress of inter-agency discussions on the implementation of real-time sharing of North Korean missile warning information, agreed upon at the November summit in Phnom Penh, and pledged to continue trilateral security cooperation. Prime Minister Kishida also said, "We will hold a South Korea-US-Japan summit at the G7 to deepen discussions."

Economic outcomes were also notable. The two leaders directly confirmed the procedures to restore South Korea to Group A, Japan's preferential export treatment group (formerly known as the White List). They also announced plans for South Korean semiconductor manufacturers and Japanese materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) companies to cooperate on semiconductor supply chains.

The formal launch of the Korea-Japan Future Partnership Fund, to be established by the Federation of Korean Industries and the Japan Business Federation, was also confirmed. Additionally, they promised joint research and R&D cooperation in advanced scientific fields such as space, quantum technology, artificial intelligence (AI), digital bio, and future materials. Considering that the channel for economic cooperation discussions between the heads of the financial authorities of both countries?South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance and Japan's Ministry of Finance?resumed in August 2016, the presidential office explains that Korea-Japan relations in the economic sector have effectively reached a normalized level.

A presidential office official stated, "The president's will is to move beyond the perception that no step forward can be taken toward the future unless historical issues are resolved, and the Japanese government has also taken a stance that goes beyond this. Through regularized shuttle diplomacy, the economic and security cooperation systems among South Korea-US, South Korea-Japan, and South Korea-US-Japan will produce results on a different level than before."

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