Press Conference by Prime Minister Ishiba regarding the Japan-Republic of Korea Summit Meeting, His Attendance at the APEC Leaders' Meeting, and Other Matters

 
(On what Prime Minister Ishiba regards as the most significant outcome of today's Japan-Republic of Korea (ROK) summit meeting; on whether or not specific dates for "shuttle diplomacy" with the ROK were discussed; on how Prime Minister Ishiba intends to develop in the future the relationship built thus far by former Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon; on how, given the growing degree of uncertainty in the international situation, Prime Minister Ishiba will make use of the series of discussions held during this APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Leaders' Meeting going forward; and on the situation regarding Prime Minister Ishiba potentially meeting with U.S. President-elect Trump during this overseas trip, in light of media reporting that the meeting will be postponed)

My summit with President Yoon was my second time to meet with him, and we spoke for close to an hour. While we went well over the scheduled meeting time, next year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-ROK relations. In the lead-up to that, from now, we hope to further increase the frequency with which Japan and the ROK have summit meetings. We agreed that if possible, we should, at any time, make opportunities to have discussions like we did today, even if it is over the telephone.

Although I am not able to share with you everything we discussed, as for security-related matters, with regard to North Korea's recent actions in particular, it launched a missile and, in terms of the relationship between Russia and North Korea, North Korea has deployed troops to Ukraine. Grounded in this situation, President Yoon and I had what I feel was a very in-depth discussion regarding security.

Japan-ROK relations made tremendous progress between former Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon, and going back further, through the relationship between former Prime Minister Obuchi and former President Kim Dae Jung. I am very aware that these examples from history show progress in our relations resulting from the leaders meeting quite literally face to face and having in-depth dialogues that covered a wide variety of issues.

That kind of relationship was built between former Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon. I would like to hold discussions in a way that further develops our relations and also contributes to regional peace and stability. This goes beyond the area of security; it is also a matter of the economy, and culture as well. One challenge that Japan and the ROK share in common is a rapid decline in the population, with the situation in the ROK being more severe than in Japan. I want to deepen these kinds of summit-level discussions from various angles.

As for the APEC meeting, we covered precisely the topics that the name (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) suggests, namely the sustainable growth of the Asia-Pacific region, and also how to bring about prosperity. We discussed how we would work to make these happen. In the context of the international community becoming extremely complex, cooperation among the APEC member economies is becoming increasingly important.

Japan emphasized the importance of such cooperation, under the recognition that we must maintain and strengthen a rules-based, free, open, fair, and transparent trade and investment environment in order to foster sustainable and inclusive growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

I stated that in a variety of areas, including digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), energy transition, and reducing food loss and waste, Japan intends to demonstrate responsibility -- or, phrasing it differently, make contributions -- in concrete ways.

As for the question of me visiting the United States of America and meeting with President-elect Trump, I am planning to depart Brazil on Tuesday, the 19th local time after attending the G20 summit meeting and return to Japan on the morning of the 21st, as originally scheduled. We will make a stop in Los Angeles for refueling, but no meetings or other events are scheduled for that stopover.

I won't go into all of the details, but the Trump transition team has explained to us that although an extremely large number of requests have arrived for meetings between foreign leaders and President-elect Trump, legally speaking -- that is, under U.S. domestic law -- various legal restrictions come into play and at the present time, no meetings with President-elect Trump will be held with any country. The legal basis for this is what is known as the Logan Act, which I understand forbids meetings or diplomatic contacts before a person takes office. The Trump team has explained that, given this legal basis, no such meetings will be held with any country.

In any event, both President Trump and I intend to hold a meeting at as early a time as possible, at the most convenient timing. That is what I am able to tell you at the current time.