South Korea, Japan foreign ministers to meet amid political turmoil in Seoul

SEOUL — The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan will hold talks in the South Korean capital on Monday (Jan 13), as the key US allies seek to underscore improved ties and shared security concerns amid the worst political crisis in decades in Seoul.

The meeting between South Korea's Cho Tae-yul and Japan's Takeshi Iwaya marks the first of its kind between the countries since President Yoon Suk-yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law last month, a move that stunned South Koreans.

Yoon has been holed up in his hillside villa in Seoul since parliament voted to impeach and suspend him last month over his martial law decree on Dec 3 with investigators vowing to arrest him after a failed attempt earlier this month.

Iwaya is also due to meet Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok, the Japanese government said.

With the administration of US President-elect Donald Trump set to begin on Jan 20, none of the original leaders who established a three-way security co-operation pact between the countries in 2023 — US President Joe Biden, Yoon, and former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — will remain in power.

Under Yoon and Kishida, relations between Seoul and Tokyo sharply improved after sinking to their lowest level in decades amid acrimonious diplomatic and trade disputes over Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Yoon had made it a diplomatic priority to mend ties with Tokyo and improve security co-operation, including with Washington, to tackle North Korea's military threats.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a visit to South Korea expressed confidence in Seoul's democratic process, though said Washington had expressed "serious concerns" over some of the actions Yoon took over the course of his martial law declaration.

Despite polls showing a majority of South Koreans disapprove of Yoon's martial law declaration and support his impeachment, his ruling People Power Party (PPP) has enjoyed a jump in support.

Support for the PPP stood at 40.8 per cent in the latest Realmeter poll released on Monday, while the main opposition Democratic Party's support stood at 42.2 per cent, within a margin of error and down from a gap of 10.8 per cent from last week, the poll said.

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