Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers on Thursday reaffirmed close cooperation in dealing with the North Korean military threat, condemning its firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile the day before, the government said.
During their meeting in Jakarta, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi also promised his South Korean counterpart, Park Jin, Tokyo will safely release treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, Japan's government said.
Their talks were held on the fringes of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministerial gatherings with partner countries through Friday.
On Wednesday, North Korea fired its first ICBM since April toward the Sea of Japan on a steep "lofted" trajectory, marking a record 74-minute flight time for a projectile launched by the nation, according to the Japanese government.
The ICBM was fired before a meeting on the same day between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania. The two leaders condemned the missile launch by North Korea.
North Korea said through its official media on Thursday the missile was a new-type Hwasong-18 ICBM that serves as a warning to the United States and other adversaries.
Hayashi and Park agreed that North Korea's nuclear and missile activities "have posed a threat to the peace and safety of the international community," the Japanese government said.
As for the water discharge from the Fukushima plant, damaged by a massive 2011 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, Hayashi reassured Park that appropriate steps would be taken and the release would be immediately halted if problems occurred.
While there is strong public concern in South Korea about the planned water discharge, the Yoon administration has said it accepts an International Atomic Energy Agency report released last week that concluded Japan's plan aligns with global safety standards.
The ministers, meanwhile, vowed to make specific arrangements for high-level bilateral economic talks, which Kishida and Yoon said they would try to hold by the end of this year, the government said.
Relations between Tokyo and Seoul have improved under the conservative administration led by Yoon, who took office in May 2022, with the South Korean government proposing a solution to a thorny dispute over wartime labor compensation in March.
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