Diplomacy Journal Lee 기자 

Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul attended the '5th Seminar for Experts and Journalists on Korea-Japan Relations' and delivered a congratulatory speech on Nov. 11. 

In his remarks, Minister Cho praised the timeliness of the seminar, which was held under the theme of 'Changing Global Leadership and Cooperation in the New Era of Korea-Japan' ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan next year.

The resumption of shuttle diplomacy between the leaders of the two countries after a 12-year hiatus in March last year has put bilateral ties back on track, and the first summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit last month has given new momentum to the development of bilateral relations, Cho said.

He added that the two countries should put their heads together to create concrete achievements that can be felt by the people of both countries, such as the bilateral Currency Swap Agreement signed late last year and the Memorandum of Cooperation for the Protection of Overseas Koreans in Third Countries signed in September.

Cho said that the friendly cooperation between South Korea and Japan has expanded beyond bilateral relations to contribute to peace and prosperity in the region and the world, and assessed that the improvement in South Korea-Japan relations has become an impetus for strengthening trilateral cooperation and resuming trilateral cooperation. 

Minister Cho emphasized that he is confident that bilateral cooperation will be further strengthened even after the new Trump administration takes office in the U.S. as a result of last week's U.S. presidential election, and expressed his hope that bilateral cooperation will continue to deepen within the framework of various multilateral organizations such as the G7, G20, and APEC.

Minister Cho emphasized that the future-oriented development of bilateral relations is especially important for the future of the younger generation, the main protagonists of the event, and called on experts and journalists from the two countries to share their wisdom and experiences for the future of bilateral relations through a frank discussion.