Park Jin Talks with US and Japanese Foreign Ministers: "Continued ROK-US and ROK-Japan Cooperation"

Foreign Minister Park Jin is having a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the 5th. (Photo by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

On the 5th, Foreign Minister Park Jin held phone calls with the foreign ministers of the United States and Japan, sharing a consensus to make further efforts to develop bilateral relations. During the call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, they expressed concern over North Korea's nuclear and missile development and emphasized that the South Korea-U.S. alliance must play a more important role.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Park made the phone call at Secretary Blinken's request on the day. With the parliamentary confirmation hearing for Cho Tae-yeol, the nominee for foreign minister, scheduled for the 8th, this is seen as Minister Park's last call during his tenure.

The two ministers evaluated that over the past 20 months, they have worked closely as special colleagues and friends, achieving many accomplishments together, and especially expressed pride in having been able to strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance more powerfully than ever before.

Minister Park stated that amid the ongoing severe complex crises in the international community, the South Korea-U.S. alliance must play a more important role, and expressed hope that Secretary Blinken would build a close cooperative relationship with the incoming foreign minister to further strengthen the global comprehensive strategic alliance.

In particular, both ministers expressed concern over North Korea's continued nuclear and missile development, which threatens peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but worldwide, as well as Russia-North Korea military cooperation, emphasizing that Russia, North Korea, and all UN member states must comply with Security Council resolutions.

Secretary Blinken evaluated that during Minister Park's tenure, South Korea played an increasingly important role on the international stage and achieved historic accomplishments, expressing gratitude for Minister Park's efforts and leadership, and pledged to work closely with the succeeding foreign minister.

Minister Park also held a call with Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko, evaluating the efforts made to develop South Korea-Japan relations.

Minister Park expressed condolences for the loss of life and property caused by the earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture and wished for the early recovery of the disaster and for the residents of the affected areas to return to their daily lives as soon as possible.

The two ministers evaluated the close communication and joint efforts to develop South Korea-Japan relations, including holding three foreign ministerial meetings in the second half of last year, and expressed hope that the two countries will continue to cooperate on various issues going forward.

They also reaffirmed their shared commitment to continue efforts for the prompt holding of the South Korea-China-Japan summit meeting.

Foreign Minister Kamikawa expressed pleasure that under Minister Park's leadership, the two countries have restored trust and developed their relationship, and requested continued unwavering interest and support for South Korea-Japan relations even after his departure.

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