South Korea, Japan’s foreign ministers to meet amid political turmoil in Seoul By Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in the South Korean capital on Monday, as key US allies seek to highlight improved ties and shared security concerns during of the worst political crisis in decades in Seoul.

The meeting between South Korea’s Cho Tae-yul and Japan’s Takeshi Iwaya is the first of its kind between the countries since President Yoon Suk Yeol temporarily imposed martial law last month, a move that surprised the South Korea.

Yoon has been holed up in his home in the hills of Seoul since parliament voted to impeach and suspend him last month over his Dec. 3 martial law order and investigators have vowed to prosecute him. hold after a failed attempt earlier this month.

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

With the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump starting on January 20, none of the first leaders have established a three-way defense cooperation agreement between the countries by 2023 – the President of US Joe Biden, Yoon and the former Prime Minister of Japan. Fumio Kishida – will always be strong.

Under Yoon and Kishida, relations between Seoul and Tokyo improved significantly after they had sunk to their lowest level in decades amid bitter diplomatic and trade tensions over Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula. of Korea.

Yoon had made it a political priority to mend ties with Tokyo and improve security cooperation, including with Washington, to deal with North Korean military threats.

Last week, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during a visit to South Korea, expressed his confidence in the democratic system in Seoul, although he said that Washington expressed “deep concern” about some of the the actions Yoon took during his declaration of martial law.

Despite polls showing the majority of South Koreans reject Yoon’s martial law declaration and support his impeachment, his ruling People Power Party (PPP) is happy to support.

The support of the PPP stood at 40.8% in the latest Realmeter survey released on Monday, while the support of the main Democratic Party stood at 42.2%, within the margin of error and down a gap of 10.8% in from last week, the survey said.