Japanese government "close communication between South Korea and Japan"... Japanese media "concerned about the collapse of cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan

Ishiba "Working hard on Korea-Japan relations no matter what the results are"
Mainichi "Acting Han Deok-soo, it's not easy to deal with the political situation"
ASAHI "South Korea-Japan cooperation will be noisy in the future"

[Anchor]
Since the passing of Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment bill, the Japanese government has repeatedly emphasized close communication with South Korea.

However, Japanese media pointed out that cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan is on the verge of collapse.

Correspondent Kim Se-ho's report from Tokyo.

[Reporter]
The Japanese government repeated its stance that it would still keep an eye on the situation of South Korea's impeachment.

He reiterated that he is continuing close communication and expressed his willingness to continue cooperation between Korea and Japan and Korea, the U.S. and Japan with Acting President Han Deok-soo.

[Yoshimasa Hayashi / Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary: I understand that President Biden and Acting President Han Deok-soo had a telephone conversation. Effective response to complex international challenges and strategic cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are more important than ever.

I am aware of the call between Acting President Han Deok-soo and President Biden. Strategic cooperation between Korea, the U.S. and Japan is more important than ever in complex international tasks."

Prime Minister Ishiba said ahead of the impeachment vote over the weekend that he would work toward relations between South Korea and Japan no matter what the outcome is.

[Shigeru Ishiba / Prime Minister of Japan (14th): We don't know what will happen, but we have to keep communicating, and we will focus all our efforts on this.]

Japanese media are scrambling to point out the confusion.

The Mainichi Shimbun predicted that acting Han Deok-soo has a lot of experience, but it is not easy to settle the chaotic political situation.

The Asahi Shimbun also predicted that South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will squeak greatly if President Yoon loses his regime's base and Trump makes a comeback.

In particular, we are concerned that South Korea and Japan will not be able to respond together if the Trump administration makes unreasonable demands.

Japan is also worried that Korea-Japan relations could cool down if the South Korean opposition party takes power.

Various Japanese polls have shown that around 70% of Japanese are concerned about future relations between Korea and Japan due to the political turmoil in Korea.

In the midst of this, Trump met with former Prime Minister Abe's wife Akie Abe separately.

It is very painful for Prime Minister Ishiba, who failed to meet with Trump early, but he is expected to suffer criticism for his lack of diplomatic power.

South Korea's political instability and uncertainty in major foreign policies of the Ishiba administration ahead of the Trump administration's launch next year are also growing.

I'm Kim Se-ho from YTN in Tokyo.