South Korea expresses hope for holding summit with Japan to improve ties Sorry, but your browser needs Javascript to use this site. If you re not sure how to activate it, please refer to this site: https://www.enable-javascript.com/
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held telephone talks in September last year. But the two neighbors have not held an in-person summit since December 2019 when Suga s predecessor, Shinzo Abe, and Moon met in China. | POOL / AFP-JIJI
Kyodo May 13, 2021
South Korea has expressed hope for holding a summit with Japan, as visiting South Korean intelligence chief Park Jie-won met with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, a source said Thursday.
South Korea expresses hope for holding summit with Japan to improve ties
South Korea has expressed hope for the possibility of holding a summit with Japan amid soured relations over historical issues, as visiting South Korean intelligence chief Park Jie Won met with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, a source familiar with the matter said Thursday.
South Korea s Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday the head of the National Intelligence Service conveyed to Suga during the Wednesday meeting in Tokyo the need to improve bilateral ties, citing sources.
The Japanese leader echoed the need and Park, who arrived in Japan on Tuesday, expressed the view that the current status of the bilateral relationship is not ideal, saying that it should not remain like this, according to the report.
US intelligence director visits inter-Korean border 1 minute read
Seoul, May 13 (EFE).- United States National Intelligence Director Avril Haines visited Thursday the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas.
It was revealed that Haines planned to take a short guided tour of the Joint Security Zone, the only area within the zone. Local agency Yonhap photographed a convoy of at least half a dozen vehicles entering the DMZ.
Haines landed Wednesday in Seoul after meeting in Tokyo with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Park Jie-won and Hiroaki Takizawa, with whom she is believed to have discussed the North Korean issue.
Avril Haines /Yonhap
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines arrives in Seoul on Wednesday after a stopover in Tokyo and will visit the demilitarized zone.
She is set to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue and the upcoming Korea-U.S. summit with South Korean officials and is likely to pay a courtesy call on President Moon Jae-in.
The first-ever female DNI chief, Haines supervises 15 intelligence agencies including the CIA and FBI.
On Wednesday morning, Haines met the chief of Korea s National Intelligence Service, Park Jie-won, who was also in Tokyo, and their counterpart Hiroaki Takizawa.
They are believed to have discussed the Biden administration s new North Korea policy.
The intel chiefs of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan met Wednesday to share their views on North Korea.
The closed door meeting held at an undisclosed venue in Tokyo brought together Park Jie-won, chief of South Korea s National Intelligence Service, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Japan s cabinet intelligence director Hiroaki Takizawa.
While not much of the details of the meeting are known, they are expected to have discussed matters of mutual interest including North Korea s nuclear and missile programs. The three-way meeting comes after Washington s months-long policy review on North Korea.
The White House said it will seek a calibrated and practical approach toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula with diplomacy as the focus of its strategy.