US-Japan-Korea
Top diplomats of U.S., Japan stress importance of trilateral cooperation with S. Korea
WASHINGTON, April 17 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, highlighted the importance of trilateral cooperation between their countries and South Korea in a meeting held in Tokyo, according to the state department on Monday.
Blinken and Hayashi met on the sidelines of the Group of 7 foreign ministers' meeting being held in Karuizawa, Japan.
"Secretary Blinken congratulated Foreign Minister Hayashi for the recent progress on Japan-ROK bilateral relations, and they both emphasized the importance of U.S.-Japan-ROK trilateral cooperation to maintain a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific region," state department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a released statement.
ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name.
Seoul-Tokyo relations recently improved after South Korea unilaterally decided to put aside historical issues related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula that had been a source of legal and political disputes between the two neighbors for many years.
U.S. President Joe Biden hailed South Korea's move last month, with National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby calling it a "truly historical announcement."
"President Biden welcomes that March 6 announcement, which was meant to address their historical issues and to improve bilateral ties," Kirby said earlier.
"The United States will continue, of course, to support Japan and the ROK as they take steps to translate this new understanding into enduring progress," he had said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to hold a bilateral summit with Biden in Washington next Wednesday, two days after arriving for a state visit, marking only the second state visit under the Biden administration.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
