▲ Vice Unification Minister Kim Ki-woong speaks at an interagency government meeting on North Korea's human rights in Seoul, in this file photo taken Dec. 9, 2022. (Yonhap)

vice minister-Japan envoy

Vice unification minister to meet Japanese nuclear envoy to discuss N. Korea

SEOUL, April 3 (Yonhap) -- Vice Unification Minister Kim Ki-woong will meet Japan's top nuclear envoy this week to discuss ways to boost bilateral ties amid North Korea's continued provocations, the unification ministry said Monday.

The talks between Kim and Takehiro Funakoshi, director-general for Asian and Oceanian Affairs at Tokyo's foreign ministry, will be held Thursday as a follow-up measure to the unification minister's visit to Japan last month.

During the trip, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se met with top Japanese government officials and proposed establishing a consultative channel between Seoul's unification ministry and Tokyo's foreign ministry.

"Last month, the unification minister agreed to strengthen cooperation between South Korea and Japan on North Korea policies during his visit to Japan, and (this week's) meeting is a follow-up to the visit," Koo Byoung-sam, the ministry's spokesperson, told a regular press briefing.

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