President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a summit in PyeongChang this afternoon.

President Moon began by noting that the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics would consecutively follow the PyeongChang Winter Olympics this time. He said the series of Olympic Games to be held in Northeast Asia carried an extraordinary meaning. He went on to highlight the importance for Korea, Japan and China to work closely together and mutually help one another for the scheduled Olympics, thereby promoting the development of bilateral relations and the dissemination of friendly sentiments among the peoples in the three countries. The President also expressed the hope that he would be able to work with the Japanese Prime Minister to contribute to the world peace and harmony as well as common prosperity.

President Moon noted the steady progress in Korea-Japan ties since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1965, evidenced by an approximately 370-fold increase in trade and a remarkable 1,000-fold rise in people-to-people exchanges. He continued to say all these demonstrated the fact that Korea and Japan are geographically close and cooperative partners on all fronts.

In addition, President Moon said he wanted the two countries to become genuine friends understanding each other. The President went on to say that, as he has so far made clear many times, he desired to push for forward-looking cooperation by working together with his counterpart to pool their wisdom and strength while looking squarely at history. To this end, President Moon added he would seek to enhance close summit-level communication, including by restoring and upgrading shuttle diplomacy. 

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the announcement of the joint declaration by former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi for the new partnership between the two nations for the 21st century. In this connection, President Moon expressed the hope that, at the beginning of this meaningful year, they would be able to strengthen the foundation to promote future-oriented bilateral ties by engaging in candid and heart-to-heart discussions.   

Prime Minister Abe showed his respect for Korea’s meticulous preparation to successfully host the PyeongChang Olympics and delivered a congratulatory message for the opening ceremony to be held shortly. 

The Prime Minister reaffirmed close cooperative relations between Korea and Japan, and among Korea, Japan and the United States, on North Korea-related issues. He also expressed the hope that the two leaders would be able to frankly exchange opinions to establish new forward-looking relations between the two nations. 

Prime Minister Abe said he would cheer for Japanese athletes the next day. He wished the best for the athletes of both countries by expressing the hope that Japanese athletes would be able to perform well at the PyeongChang Olympics and contribute to its success and that Korean athletes would do well and win many medals.