Koizumi to Visit Korea in Late June

Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said on May 2 that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would visit Korea in late June and have a summit with President Roh Moo-hyun.

In the middle of his visit to the U.S., Foreign Minister Machimura had a conference with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington and explained Prime Minister Koizumi’s plan to visit Korea when he commented on Korea-Japan relations, saying, “They are heading in a positive direction.”

The Japanese press reported that whether or not there will be an improvement in Korea-Japan relations is grabbing attention since it is the first time in half a year since last December that the two heads have met. The meeting will take place at a time when the bilateral relationship has been aggravated due to the Dokdo and Japanese textbook issues.

Regarding the North Korea nuclear issue, it was reported that the U.S. and Japan agreed that they should work to resume the six-party talks soon, but that they should also review submitting the issue to the U.N. Security Council if Pyongyang continues to refuse to rejoin the talks.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com