We begin over in Singapore, where South Korea's top diplomat continues to hold bilateral talks
with her counterparts... on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
Our Lee Ji-won who is in the city state right now.
She joins us on the line.
Ji-won, who did Minister Kang meet with today and what were some of the main topics at the
table?
Daniel, Minister Kang was going to meet with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this evening,
but that meeting has been postponed until tomorrow due to delays in the Chinese side's
schedule.
When they do meet, though, it's expected that they will, of course, discuss the ongoing
developments on the Korean Peninsula.
And among the pending issues is a declaration of an end to the Korean War,... where South
Korea and China are key players alongside North Korea and the U.S.
Minister Kang started the day's meetings with neighboring Northeast Asian countries at 5-15
p.m.,... the first with Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
Unlike what many expected, they did not focus much on North Korea's denuclearization, but
more on how the two Koreas and Russia can cooperate economically.
The leaders of South Korea and Russia had promised in June to launch a committee to
commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties in the year 2020.
Minister Kang, on thursday, proposed launching the team sometime this year, to which the
Russian foreign minsiter agreed.
Now, after that came Kang's meeting with her Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono.
We don't yet have the specifics of their talks,... but they are expected to have discussed the
"comfort women" issue and the 2015 agreement.
That deal has stalled because the Korean people do not believe it fully reflects the demands
of the victims.
Ji-won, we are expecting North Korea's foreign minister Ri Yong-ho's arrival tomorrow, any
update on that?
Daniel, North Korea's state-run Korea Central News Agency said Thursday that its foreign
minister Ri Yong-ho has left Pyongyang to participate in the ASEAN Regional Forum, one
of the major sessions at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
The forum is slated for Saturday.
It's the only multi-party regional security forum that North Korea partakes in.
And while talks between the two Koreas have not been confirmed yet,... the ARF would be
the only session where Minister Kang will be sitting together with Ri.
According to Seoul's Yonhap News Agency, Minister Ri arrived in Beijing at half past 11 in the
morning, and will take a midnight flight Singapore, arriving at around 6-thirty in the morning
on Friday.
With Pyongyang's news agency calling Ri's visit an 'official' one, there are expectations
that Ri could stay in the city-state beyond the ministerial meetings to take care of other
business with the Singaporean government.
The KCNA said that Ri Yong-ho will be making an official visit to Iran as well.
That's all from me for now Daniel.
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