Yoon, Ishiba to have summit in Laos next week: NHK

New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to have his first summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the margins of annual regional gatherings in Laos next week, Japan's broadcaster NHK reported Thursday. The two leaders will have their first in-person meeting since Ishiba took office on Tuesday, the Japanese public broadcaster said, as both plan to participate in a series of meetings involving the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos. The planned meeting comes amid expectations over how Yoon and Ishiba will work together to keep up the momentum for greater bilateral cooperation in tackling evolving North Korean threats and other shared challenges. On Wednesday, Yoon and Ishiba held their first phone talks, where they shared the need for bilateral cooperation as well as trilateral cooperation with the United States to deal with evolving North Korean threats, according to Seoul's presidential office. Source: Yonhap News Agency