Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori met with a series of foreign leaders who were visiting Japan to attend the official funeral of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, organized by the Government of Japan and the Liberal Democratic Party (see following item). He conferred individually with President Bill Clinton of the United States, President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea, President Joseph Estrada of the Philippines, President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia, and Prime Minister John Howard of Australia, and also met with leaders and cabinet members of states belonging to the South Pacific Forum.
In the meetings between the Prime Minister and Presidents Clinton and Kim, the leaders agreed that Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea would maintain close liaison regarding policy toward North Korea in the leadup to the summit between the leaders of the Republic of Korea and North Korea. The Prime Minister also engaged in active exchanges of views regarding the July Group of Eight Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in his meetings with foreign leaders.