Japan pulls out of US news conference over South Korean police chief’s disputed island visit

Japanese minister Takeo Mori skipped a three-way presser with his US and South Korean counterparts to protest General Kim Chang-yong’s trip to the disputed islets

One analyst suggested Seoul could have used Kim’s visit to drum up support for the ruling party’s presidential candidate

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South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun (left) and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori in Tokyo. File photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:52pm, 18 Nov 2021Updated: 8:07pm, 18 Nov 2021

Japan’s vice foreign minister pulled out of a planned news conference with his South Korean and US counterparts in Washington on Wednesday over a territorial dispute between the two countries, a Japanese embassy spokesperson said.

US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was left to answer questions on her own in the absence of South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori, with whom she had just met for three hours.

Sherman began by noting that “there are some bilateral differences between Japan and the Republic of Korea that are continuing to be resolved,” but said the cancellation of the joint news conference was not related to the earlier trilateral meeting, which she called “constructive [and] substantive.”

The three officials discussed freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea and their countries’ commitment to advancing democratic values and human rights, and restated their commitment to maintaining an inclusive, free, peaceful, stable and open Indo-Pacific region, Sherman said.

Japanese embassy spokesperson Masashi Mizobuchi said Tokyo had “lodged a strong protest” over a visit by South Korea’s head of police to disputed islets between the countries, known as Takeshima in Japan.