1. During his visit to Tokyo for the fifth vice foreign ministerial meeting among the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan, First Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam met with Vice Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama of Japan on October 26. In their meeting, the two ranking diplomats exchanged views on matters of mutual concern, including the ROK-Japan relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

2. The two Vice Ministers shared the view that the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities are heightening the gravity and the urgency of the North Korean nuclear issue. They agreed to work toward the adoption of a new, stronger UN Security Council sanctions resolution, to further enforce unilateral sanctions and intensify pressure on North Korea based on close ROK-US-Japan coordination and in cooperation with the international community, including China, Russia.

3. The two Vice Ministers took note of close bilateral communication, including at the two summit meetings and three foreign ministerial meetings in 2016 alone, and agreed to work together to advance the bilateral relations and increase people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

° The ROK side spoke about the progress in the project of the Foundation for Reconciliation and Healing for individual victims in an effort to faithfully implement the ROK-Japan agreement on the “comfort women” issue reached on December 28, 2015. The two sides reaffirmed the importance of the faithful implementation of the agreement.

4. After the ROK-Japan meeting, Vice Minister Lim, together with Vice Minister Sugiyama and Deputy Secretary Antony Blinken of the US Department of State, paid a courtesy call on Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

* unofficial translation