South Korea has intensified diplomacy in 2022 to advance relations with the United States to the "highest level" and to restore ties with Japan amid growing nuclear threats from North Korea, according to an annual diplomatic white paper published Wednesday. The foreign ministry also described Japan as its "closest neighbor" for the third consecutive year in its latest white paper and added the phrase "cooperative partner" to refer to Tokyo. "Since its inauguration, the Yoon Suk Yeol government has spared no effort in building South Korea-U.S. relations to the highest level ever through active summit diplomacy ... and to create conditions for restoring South Korea-Japan relations by restoring trust," Foreign Minister Park Jin wrote in the preface. Park also stressed the introduction of the Indo-Pacific strategy, calling it the country's first comprehensive regional strategy aimed at expanding its diplomatic reach and strengthening solidarity with countries that share common values. On North Korea, the min istry said it sought to bring Pyongyang to the path of denuclearization as the reclusive country continued its nuclear and missile threats at an "unprecedented" level. "The year 2022 was a year trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan was strengthened further to respond to the North's escalating nuclear and missile threats," it said, noting Yoon held two trilateral summit meetings with the U.S. and Japanese leaders within just six months of taking office in May. The government also made efforts to improve bilateral relations with Tokyo, which had soured after South Korea's Supreme Court ordered Japanese firms in 2018 to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. "South Korea and Japan are the closest neighbors and cooperative partners that share universal values, such as freedom, human rights and rule of law, and seek common interests in security, economy and global agendas," it said. This year's paper also labeled C hina as South Korea's "neighbor" and largest trading partner, as well as a "major cooperative partner" in addressing the North Korean nuclear issue. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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