Top diplomats of S. Korea, Japan hold talks on sidelines of APEC summit in Peru

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Japanese counterpart, Takeshi Iwaya, have held talks on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Peru, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

The top diplomats of the two nations held a meeting in Lima on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties and North Korean issues, according to the ministry.

It marked the first in-person meeting between Cho and Iwaya since the top Japanese diplomat took office last month with the launch of the new leadership in Tokyo under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

In the meeting, they decided to make efforts to "wisely" manage pending issues between the two nations and upgrade the bilateral relationship to another level.

Ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of the two nations' diplomatic relationship next year, Cho and Iwaya have agreed to closely cooperate to prepare for various commemorative projects, the ministry said.

On North Korea, they shared the view that North Korea's troop deployment to Russia poses a "serious" threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond it.

To deal with deepening military ties between the North and Russia and Pyongyang's nuclear issue, Cho and Iwaya stressed the need to closely cooperate between Seoul and Tokyo as well as bolster trilateral cooperation also involving the United States. (Yonhap)