Japan, South Korea mull 1st security talks in 5 years in April

Japan and South Korea are arranging to hold their first working-level security talks in more than five years next month, a diplomatic source said Monday, in the run-up to a scheduled visit by President Yoon Suk Yeol to the United States.

Report informs via Kyodo News that an early resumption of the dialogue, last held in March 2018, was agreed by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Yoon at their summit on March 16, as Tokyo and Seoul work to improve their ties, which were frayed by a bilateral wartime labor dispute in recent years.

Senior foreign and defense ministry officials from the two countries are likely to affirm close coordination over North Korea, as Pyongyang has shown no signs of ceasing its ballistic missile launches amid fears about its possible seventh nuclear test, the source said.

In early March, South Korea announced a solution to the wartime labor issue, with Yoon, who took office in May 2022, pledging to improve relations with Japan while deepening military cooperation with the United States in the face of threats from the North.

Later, Yoon made a trip to Tokyo for talks with Kishida, becoming the first South Korean president to visit Japan in four years.

The venue for the upcoming security gathering has yet to be determined, according to the source. In the past, the two Asian nations -- both IUS allies -- generally hosted such meetings alternately. The last one took place in Tokyo.