South Korea, Japan foreign ministers to meet amid political turmoil in Seoul

13/1/2025 12:17

The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in the South Korean capital on Monday, as the key U.S. allies seek to underscore improved ties and shared security concerns amid the worst political crisis in decades in Seoul.



The meeting between South Korea's Cho Tae-yul and Japan's Takeshi Iwaya marks the first of its kind between the countries since President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law last month, a move that stunned South Koreans.



Yoon has been holed up in his hillside villa in Seoul since parliament voted to impeach and suspend him last month over his martial law decree on Dec. 3 with investigators vowing to arrest him after a failed attempt earlier this month.



The Japanese government said, Iwaya is also due to meet Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok.



With the administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump set to begin on Jan. 20, none of the original leaders who established a three-way security cooperation pact between the countries in 2023 - U.S. President Joe Biden, Yoon, and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida - will remain in power.

Under Yoon and Kishida, relations between Seoul and Tokyo sharply improved after sinking to their lowest level in decades amid acrimonious diplomatic and trade disputes over Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.



Yoon had made it a diplomatic priority to mend ties with Tokyo and improve security cooperation, including with Washington, to tackle North Korea's military threats.