Seoul, July 29 The South Korean Foreign Minister, Cho Hyun said Tuesday he believes his visit to Japan before going to the United States will help "upgrade" not only the bilateral ties with Tokyo, but also trilateral cooperation among the three countries.
Cho made the remark ahead of his departure for Tokyo, where he was scheduled to meet one-on-one with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya for the first time since taking office early last week.
The foreign ministry announced Monday that Cho will visit Japan before flying to Washington later this week for talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Yonhap news agency reported.
"The reason I am going to Japan first is because I believe it will help upgrade not only our bilateral relations with Japan, but also trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan," Cho told reporters at Gimpo International Airport ahead of his departure.
"I don't think there has ever been a case where a foreign minister's first trip abroad after taking office was to Japan," he said.
Cho's decision to stop in Japan before the US is seen as atypical, as newly appointed foreign ministers have generally chosen Washington as their first stop for diplomatic talks.
With Iwaya, Cho said he will discuss ways the two sides can work together to advance the bilateral relations in a "forward-looking" manner, as well as issues related to the situation in Northeast Asia and beyond.
"Discussions could include long-running historical issues," Cho said. "It is crucial to take a long-term approach and identify mutually beneficial issues for discussion, for a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship."
Cho also said he plans to convey a message to Japan regarding President Lee Jae Myung's "strong commitment" to continuing "shuttle diplomacy" of regular visits by leaders, restored by the two countries' previous leaders.
In Washington, Cho said he plans to have broad discussions with Rubio on the alliance and other shared issues, including the notion of "modernisation of alliance" as recently mentioned by the US administration.
The concept is largely seen as reflecting US calls for its allies to shoulder more of the defence burden and its focus on addressing an assertive China.
Cho's two-nation swing also comes as South Korea's tariff negotiations with the US are at a critical juncture this week amid the looming August 1 deadline set by the Donald Trump administration. Unless a trade deal is reached, South Korean goods will be subject to a 25 per cent US reciprocal tariff and sectoral duties.
"I plan to provide as much support as possible (for the tariff negotiations)," Cho said.
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