Top diplomats of Seoul and Tokyo to discuss Japan's export curbs on S. Korea
- 5 years ago
South Korea's top diplomat Kang Kyung-wha is in Thailand for the ASEAN Forum.
She will hold bilateral talks with her counterparts from various countries,...including Japan.
Could this be a sign the two might be willing to reach a compromise over Tokyo's export curbs on Seoul?
South Korea is hoping for a breakthrough as Japan looks set to take Seoul off its whitelist of countries with preferential trade conditions... so a BIG day ahead.
For more, let's connect to our foreign affairs correspondent Lee Ji-won, who is in Bangkok for us.
Ji-won.
Mark, the bilateral sitdown between Ministers Kang Kyung-wha and Taro Kono is due to start in around 45 minutes.
The meeting is expected to last around three-quarters-of-an-hour,... but it could go longer as many of these bilateral meetings tend to do.
This is the first time the two diplomats will be seeing each other face-to-face after Japan imposed retaliatory trade restrictions on Seoul in July.
But it's unlikely they'll find a solution today, as Minister Kang said on Wednesday that she will strongly convey Seoul's stance to Kono that Tokyo's export controls are unfair, while hoping to extract Japan's understanding that diplomatic talks are needed going forward so their bilateral ties don't completely fall apart.
Seoul's nuclear envoy Lee Do-hoon, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu, and Director-General for Asian and Pacific Affairs Kim Jung-han will accompany Minister Kang at the talks.
After that, Kang will have another sitdown, this time with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
In the afternoon,... she'll have more bilateral discussions before she attends her first multinational ministerial meeting with her ASEAN counterparts at 4 PM, local time.
Kang's main focus will be to relay Seoul's stance on Japan's export controls and highlight that the spirit of free trade must not be hindered,... if they want to ensure regional co-prosperity.
I will bring you more updates throughout the day, once the details are out.
She will hold bilateral talks with her counterparts from various countries,...including Japan.
Could this be a sign the two might be willing to reach a compromise over Tokyo's export curbs on Seoul?
South Korea is hoping for a breakthrough as Japan looks set to take Seoul off its whitelist of countries with preferential trade conditions... so a BIG day ahead.
For more, let's connect to our foreign affairs correspondent Lee Ji-won, who is in Bangkok for us.
Ji-won.
Mark, the bilateral sitdown between Ministers Kang Kyung-wha and Taro Kono is due to start in around 45 minutes.
The meeting is expected to last around three-quarters-of-an-hour,... but it could go longer as many of these bilateral meetings tend to do.
This is the first time the two diplomats will be seeing each other face-to-face after Japan imposed retaliatory trade restrictions on Seoul in July.
But it's unlikely they'll find a solution today, as Minister Kang said on Wednesday that she will strongly convey Seoul's stance to Kono that Tokyo's export controls are unfair, while hoping to extract Japan's understanding that diplomatic talks are needed going forward so their bilateral ties don't completely fall apart.
Seoul's nuclear envoy Lee Do-hoon, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs Yoon Soon-gu, and Director-General for Asian and Pacific Affairs Kim Jung-han will accompany Minister Kang at the talks.
After that, Kang will have another sitdown, this time with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
In the afternoon,... she'll have more bilateral discussions before she attends her first multinational ministerial meeting with her ASEAN counterparts at 4 PM, local time.
Kang's main focus will be to relay Seoul's stance on Japan's export controls and highlight that the spirit of free trade must not be hindered,... if they want to ensure regional co-prosperity.
I will bring you more updates throughout the day, once the details are out.