President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) was immersed in a flurry of diplomatic activity with the United States, China and Japan on his second day after winning the presidential election.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) was immersed in a flurry of diplomatic activity with the United States, China and Japan on his second day after winning the presidential election.
He had a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, followed by courtesy visits from the Chinese ambassador to Korea and charge d’affaires at the United States Embassy in Seoul, Friday.
According to Kim Eun-hye, a spokesperson for Yoon, the President-elect had a phone conversation with Kishida for about 15 minutes on Friday morning.
After sending condolences to the 11th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Yoon proposed to improve and strengthen bilateral ties as well as the trilateral relations between Korea, Japan and the U.S.
“Korea and Japan have many challenges to cooperate in the future such as security issues in Northeast Asia and economic prosperity, so we should work together to promote friendly cooperation between the two countries,” Yoon was quoted as saying during the call with Kishida.
Yoon and Kishida also exchanged ideas about North Korean issues including missile provocations, denuclearization and the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korea.
Kishida expressed hope that under Yoon’s leadership, Korea-Japan ties can improve. According to Japanese media, Yoon and Kishida agreed to meet in person as soon as possible.
Kishida is the second head of state Yoon had a courtesy call after the U.S. President Joe Biden, Thursday.
Yoon also met Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming at the PPP headquarters, Friday.
“Korea and China commemorates the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year and the ties have contributed greatly to economic development of both countries,” Yoon said, noting that China is Korea’s largest trading partner and Korea is among one of the top three trading partners of China.
Ambassador Xing conveyed a congratulatory message from Chinese President Xi Jinping, emphasizing South Korea as close neighbor and important cooperation partner.
“This year is an important year in the bilateral relationship between China and South Korea, as it marks 30 years since our establishment of diplomatic ties,” Xi was quoted as saying.
“Together with the South Korean side, the Chinese side is willing to firmly defend the original intentions of our establishment of diplomatic ties and deepen our friendly cooperation to promote the stable and long-term development of the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership relationship and bring welfare to the two nations and our peoples.”
In the afternoon, Yoon vowed to rebuild Korea-U.S. ties during a meeting with the U.S. charge d’affaires Christopher Del Corso.
Yoon said that the U.S. is the only ally of Korea and the “blood ties” between the two countries should be developed comprehensively encompassing economic, environmental, healthcare and technology based on security cooperation.
Del Corso replied he would cooperate more closely with the new administration to expand bilateral ties as two strong and vibrant democratic countries in the world.
Yoon implied that South Korea will increase participation in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known as the Quad, a regional forum of the U.S., Australia, India and Japan. Charge d’affaires Del Corso said that the U.S. has a strong interest in the Quad shown at a recent meeting in Melbourne.
