Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol Calls New Foreign Minister Iwaya... "Efforts to Expand Cooperation"

Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol had his first telephone conversation with the new Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and discussed Korea-Japan relations and other pending regional issues.

In a 25-minute telephone conversation from 5:50 p.m. today (4th), Minister Cho congratulated Foreign Minister Iwaya on his inauguration and said, "Let's work closely together to expand cooperation between the two countries that share values and interests."

Foreign Minister Iwaya thanked Minister Cho for his congratulations and said, "Korea-Japan relations are very important bilateral relations," adding, "It is not only in the interests of both sides that the two countries work closely together, but it also leads to stability and prosperity in the region."Continuing the recent positive trend in Korea-Japan relations, Minister

agreed to speed up efforts to prepare for the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations next year and work together to develop bilateral relations to the next level.