President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) on Sept. 6 poses for photos with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of their expanded bilateral summit at the Office of the President in Seoul. (Office of the President)
By Park Hye Ri
A bilateral agreement with Japan will bolster cooperation in protecting the nationals of both nations abroad.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a bilateral summit at the Office of the President in Seoul on Sept. 6 signed a memorandum of cooperation to jointly protect their nationals overseas, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told a briefing that day.
Under the pact, both sides agreed to negotiate support and cooperation for evacuating their citizens in a crisis such as war in a third country, as well as share information and exemplary practices in procedures of crisis management, related drills and training even in peacetime.
“Our side initially proposed the Korea-Japan memorandum of cooperation to institutionalize bilateral cooperation based on cooperation cases of emergency evacuation of nationals abroad during the coup in Sudan in April last year and the Israel-Hamas conflict that October,” the adviser said. “We expect the agreement to serve as an institutional foundation to protect the safety of both Korean and Japanese nationals abroad amid political instability worldwide.”
Turning to tourism, the two sides agreed to simplify immigration procedures to boost the convenience of their nationals, given the annual 10 million people who travel between both countries.
Both leaders also decided to accelerate substantial cooperation and maintain the momentum of improving bilateral ties ahead of the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations next year.
hrhr@korea.kr
