(LEAD) Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan meet in Jakarta to discuss Fukushima, N.K. provocations

▲ South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks with reporters at Shangri-La Jakarta in Jakarta on July 12, 2023, after arriving in the Indonesian capital to attend a series of high-level meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) S Korea-Japan-FM talks

(LEAD) Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan meet in Jakarta to discuss Fukushima, N.K. provocations

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By Chang Dong-woo

JAKARTA, July 13 (Yonhap) -- The top diplomats of South Korea and Japan held bilateral talks Thursday over Tokyo's plan to discharge treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima plant and ways to deal with North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile provocations.

The meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, in Jakarta came on the heels of a bilateral summit between the leaders of the two countries held a day earlier in Lithuania.

During the summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol asked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to include South Korean experts in monitoring the planned water release.

In the closed-door ministers' meeting held on the sidelines of high-level meetings led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Park was expected to reiterate Yoon's request to Japan, which also calls for the discharge to be stopped immediately if the concentration of radioactive material in the water exceeds standard levels.

North Korea's latest ballistic missile provocation, carried out a day before the ASEAN-hosted meetings, was also a key topic to be discussed between the ministers, according to officials.

Earlier in the day, Pyongyang announced that it test-fired a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Wednesday, with its leader Kim Jong-un vowing to take a "stronger" military offensive until the United States abandons its hostile policy against his country.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim himself guided the test launch.

In the afternoon, Park is scheduled to participate in the South Korea-ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting and the ASEAN plus three meeting, which also includes China and Japan.

During the talks, Park is expected to emphasize Seoul's resolve to implement its Indo-Pacific strategy introduced in November of last year and make efforts to earn an official endorsement of the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative, a core component of the Indo-Pacific strategy, from ASEAN members.

Issues involving North Korea and Myanmar, in particular, are likely to be covered during the ASEAN plus three meeting.

In the evening, the minister is scheduled to attend a reception for the heads of delegations by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

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