Leaders of South Korea and Japan move closer at a summit in Cambodia

MADRID, 13 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met this Sunday in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, a diplomatic gesture of great importance for the rapprochement between the two powers after months of estrangement.

The main theme of the meeting was North Korea, according to Japanese public television, NHK, and its "provocations". A trilateral summit held this Sunday between Kishida, Yoon and US President Joe Biden, also present in Phnom Penh, has also facilitated rapprochement.

"Japan, the United States and South Korea should strengthen their cooperation and respond decisively" to North Korean "provocations," Kishida said.

Yoon also stressed that trilateral cooperation is "a powerful fortress to protect universal values ​​and achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia." "Our cooperation will be further strengthened with this meeting," she stressed.

The South Korean leader explained after his meeting with Kishida that the two leaders agree on the need to resolve pending bilateral issues, including the issue of forced labor during the time of Japanese rule over Korea, in the first third of the 20th century.

Yoon has assured that both he and Kishida recognize progress on this issue and have agreed to continue the dialogue to reach an early agreement. Kishida also hopes that today's meeting will be a turning point for better relations.

Kishida has also met separately with Biden and both leaders have mentioned the importance of improving deterrence and response capacity based on the bilateral alliance.

In addition, the Japanese president has denounced Chinese incursions into Japanese territory, specifically in the archipelago of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, controlled by Tokyo but claimed by both China and Taiwan.