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The Asahi Shimbun reported on the 21st, citing a government official, that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed strong displeasure at South Korea’s unilateral announcement of the Korea-Japan summit.
According to reports, Prime Minister Kishida responded to the announcement that the South Korean presidential office had agreed to hold a summit meeting between Korea and Japan on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly on the 15th and was adjusting the time.
Prime Minister Kishida’s reaction is interpreted as a perception that the announcement of the summit meeting by the presidential office was ahead of its time.
Earlier, on the same day that the President’s Office announced that the Korea-Japan summit would be held, Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu, a spokesman for the Japanese government, answered at a regular press conference that “nothing has been decided” to a related question.
Prime Minister Kishida said the day before, “Nothing has been decided yet” in response to a question about the Korea-Japan summit right before leaving for the United States to attend the UN General Assembly.
Multiple Japanese Foreign Ministry officials predicted that the meeting between President Yoon Seok-yeol and Prime Minister Kishida at the UN General Assembly held on the 20th local time would be short-lived, Asahi reported.
Asahi said, “Prime Minister Kishida and President Yun are visiting New York, but the temperature difference between the two governments is striking, so the prospects for the summit are uncertain.”
In addition, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun also reported on Prime Minister Kishida’s remarks that the Korea-Japan summit had not been scheduled, and said, “The Japanese government insists that South Korea proposes a solution to the problem of forced labor mobilization during the Japanese occupation as a prerequisite for the Korea-Japan summit.” reported.