FM Park extends condolences over Japan’s quakes in phone talks with counterpart

Foreign Minister Park Jin held phone talks with his Japanese counterpart Friday and expressed condolences over the deadly earthquakes that hit central Japan on New Year's Day, his office said. In the phone talks with Yoko Kamikawa, Park extended condolences over the loss of many lives and the damage caused by the quakes in Ishikawa Prefecture, and hoped for an early recovery from the disaster. The two ministers reaffirmed their commitment to developing bilateral cooperation as they took note of the improvement in the relationship, evidenced by the leaders' summits that took place three times in only the second half of last year. In this vein, they agreed to continue efforts to resume the long-suspended three-way summit involving China. The phone talks came as Park is set to leave office later this month following a Cabinet reshuffle. The phone call took place at the request of Kamikawa, Park's office said. Kamikawa told Park that she was pleased to see the two neighbors recover trust and further develop their ties under Park's leadership and hoped for his continued support for Seoul-Tokyo relations even after he leaves office. President Yoon Suk Yeol recently named former ambassador to the United Nations Cho Tae-yul as his pick for the new foreign minister. Source: Yonhap News Agency