日韓外相、連携強化を確認　「佐渡島の金山」で意見交換

　【ビエンチャン時事】ラオスを訪問中の上川陽子外相は２６日、首都ビエンチャンで韓国の趙兌烈外相と約４５分間会談した。地域情勢について議論し、「自由で開かれたインド太平洋」の維持・強化に向けた連携の重要性を確認した。北朝鮮情勢に関しても協議し、日韓と日米韓３カ国で緊密に連携して対応していくことで一致した。
　日本政府が目指す「佐渡島（さど）の金山」（新潟県佐渡市）の世界文化遺産登録を巡っても意見交換した。韓国政府は戦時中に佐渡金山で朝鮮半島出身者の「強制労働」があったとして展示や慰霊施設を整備するよう求めていたが、今回の外相会談に先立ち、韓国外務省当局者が登録を容認する方針を示した。（2024/07/26-20:17）

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, on Friday affirmed the importance of cooperation to maintain and strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
   During their 45-minute talks in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, the two agreed to deal with issues related to North Korea through close cooperation between Japan and South Korea, and between the two countries plus the United States.
   Kamikawa and Cho also exchanged views on the Japanese government's aim for forced labor-linked gold mines on Japan's Sado Island to be listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
   Prior to the meeting, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official suggested that Seoul would accept the UNESCO listing of the gold mines. South Korea has requested that an exhibition and a memorial facility be built to remember that people from the Korean Peninsula were forced to work in the Sado mines during World War II.
   With next year to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea, Kamikawa and Cho agreed to work together to make bilateral cooperation stronger and broader in a way that benefits the people of both countries.