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Pres. Park Geun-hye shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before their bilateral summit at the National Convention Center in Vientiane

During a summit meeting at the National Convention Center in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, on the afternoon of Sept. 7, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to work closely with the United States to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, including the possibility of additional provocations, the Blue House announced.

“North Korea’s recent improvement of its nuclear and missile capability constitutes a serious threat both to South Korea and to Japan. I hope that we can cooperate more closely not only to respond to North Korea’s provocations but also to bring about the denuclearization of the North,” Park said during the summit meeting on Sept. 7, according to the Blue House.

“I regard North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile a few days ago as an act of inexpressible violence. I hope that Japan and South Korea can cooperate on a response that involves the UN Security Council,” Abe said. Ballistic missiles launched by North Korea on Sept. 5, during the G20 summit meeting in Hangzhou, China, fell in Japan’s Air Defense Identification Zone.

“By putting various forms of pressure on North Korea, including the strict implementation of UN Security Council Resolution No. 2270 against North Korea, we need to make North Korea aware that if it clings to its nuclear weapons and missiles, it will only increase its international isolation and bring about its own demise,” Park said.

In addition to cooperating on North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles, Park and Abe agreed to work on developing forward-looking relations between South Korea and Japan, given the positive momentum that has developed in their bilateral relations since the comfort women agreement was reached on Dec. 28, 2015, the Blue House said.

“I think the comfort women agreement is significant because of the improvement in our relations with Japan since the agreement is allowing us to broaden the foundation for taking joint action on a variety of issues and challenges,” Park said.

“We will continue to work together in the future through programs at the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation so that the former comfort women’s reputations and dignity can be restored and so that their emotional wounds can be healed as soon as possible,” Park said.

“I am glad that bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea have been developing in a positive manner since the comfort women agreement was reached at the end of last year. I want to pursue future-oriented cooperation with President Park so that we can build a new era for South Korea and Japan,” Abe was quoted as saying by the Japanese press, including public broadcaster NHK.

During the meeting on Sept. 7, the two leaders also discussed the option of holding a trilateral summit meeting with China. Japanese wire service Kyodo News had previously reported that the Japanese government had initiated discussions with South Korea and China about holding a trilateral summit meeting in Japan between the end of November and the beginning of December.

Since Japan is the chair for this year’s trilateral summit, this would mark Park’s first visit to Japan since being inaugurated as president, presuming that a final agreement is reached on the summit.

This was the third time for Park and Abe to meet, following their meeting on the occasion of the trilateral summit with China in Nov. 2015 and their meeting during the 4th Nuclear Security Summit, held in Washington on March 31, 2016.

The meeting on Sept. 7 lasted for 33 minutes and took place about 50 minutes later than planned because of the delay of an ASEAN-related meeting. The meeting was very short, considering that it was conducted with consecutive interpretation.

Park’s summit meeting with Abe wrapped up her summit diplomacy with the “big four” countries in South Korean foreign relations – namely, the US, China, Japan and Russia – during her overseas tour. But in meetings with the leaders of China and Russia, who are opposed to plans to deploy the THAAD antimissile system on the Korean Peninsula, Park only reaffirmed her differences of opinion, and in Park’s summit meeting with US President Barack Obama on the previous day, the two sides stated their intention to “maintain a powerful deterrent through extending deterrence and strengthening our combined defensive capability, which will include deploying THAAD.” This is prompting concerns that the arms race in East Asia will intensify.

By Choi Hye-jeong, staff reporter in Vientiane

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