 "South Korea's Yoon says better Japan ties helping deter North Korea threat, seeks international help for reunification with North")
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday said that improved relations with Japan were helping to combat threats from Pyongyang’s weapons developments and urged the international community to support efforts towards achieving reunification with North Korea.
Under President Yoon’s conservative leadership, Seoul has pursued closer ties with Tokyo, despite historical tensions, amid China’s expanding influence and North Korea’s advancing missile and nuclear capabilities.
Speaking during a ceremony commemorating an independence holiday, President Yoon emphasised the upcoming 60th anniversary of normalised diplomatic ties with Japan, expressing hope for elevating bilateral relations to a “higher level” in the coming year.
“Now, South Korea and Japan are working together to overcome the painful past and moving toward a ’new world’,” Reuters quoted him as saying in a speech to commemorate the formation of an independence movement against Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of Korea.
“The security cooperation between the two countries against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats has been strengthened further,” he added.
During his speech, Yoon said that Seoul would need international help for any prospect of unification with North Korea.
“Unification is a challenging task that we cannot accomplish alone. The international community must pool its strength in a responsible manner,” he said.
Yoon’s comments come after the North’s leader Kim Jong Un in January called South Korea a “primary foe” and said unification was no longer possible.
Tensions have also increased on the Korean peninsula following intensifying military drills by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, sometimes involving Japan, in response to weapons testing by the North, which said it was readying for a “nuclear war” with its enemies.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSouth Korea’s government would continue to provide support for North Korean defectors, Yoon said, accusing Pyongyang of “tyranny and human rights abuses.”
With inputs from agencies
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