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Prime Minister Receives a Courtesy Call from Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of South Korea Monday, November 6, 2006 JAPANESE

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a courtesy call from Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of South Korea, at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At the beginning of the meeting, Prime Minister Abe congratulated Minister Ban on his assumption of the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from next January. Prime Minister Abe also thanked Minister Ban for making the courtesy call despite his busy schedule and for his tremendous efforts as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the field of Japan-South Korea relations. In response, Minister Ban expressed his gratitude for the support he received from Japan at the time of the election for UN Secretary-General and said, "I would like to discuss with Japan various important issues faced by the UN." During the meeting, Prime Minister Abe and Minister Ban discussed UN Security Council reform, the dialogue with and pressure applied to North Korea, and the abduction issue.