• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Japanese Foreign Minister Arrives in South Korea for APEC

Posted on: Monday, 14 November 2005, 06:00 CST

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo

Pusan, South Korea, 14 November: Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso arrived in Pusan, South Korea, on Monday [14 November] to attend ministerial meetings at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and meet with his counterparts including the South Korean and Russian foreign ministers.

Aso will meet with South Korea Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon in the evening, followed by dinner together, to discuss agenda items for a Japan-South Korea summit set for Friday, as well as how to improve bilateral relations that have been strained by the Japanese premier's visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

He will also meet Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien on Monday.

Also on the sidelines of the two-day APEC ministerial talks to begin Tuesday, Aso is scheduled to lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday, when they will discuss final arrangements for a visit to Japan by Russian President Vladimir Putin slated for 20-22 November.

He will also meet Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Tuesday evening, as well as Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid on Wednesday afternoon before returning to Japan.

It will be the first time for Aso to meet his counterparts since assuming the post of foreign minister 31 October.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

More News in this Category