25 September 2017

News Story: Seoul, Washington voice concern about distorted Japanese reports

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- High-ranking officials from South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and the White House held telephone talks Saturday and expressed concern about some distorted reports in the Japanese media about the recent trilateral summit involving President Moon Jae-in, U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York, a source said.

The White House, in particular, voiced serious concern that distorted reports by some Japanese media outlets could harm the three countries' policy coordination against the increasingly provocative regime in Pyeongyang, said the source.

The high-ranking officials from Cheong Wa Dae and the White House talked on the phone for 30 minutes, beginning at 7:30 a.m. (Seoul time), the source noted. They discussed follow-up measures to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's strongly worded warning against the U.S. as well as Trump's visit to Seoul, which is expected to happen in November this year.

Following the three-way summit of Moon, Trump and Abe in New York on Thursday, some Japanese media reported that the U.S. leader had been angered by Seoul's decision to provide US$8 million in aid to the North.

The Cheong Wa Dae official was quoted by the source as saying in the phone conversation, "Some Japanese media, citing government sources, have carried several reports that distort what was discussed at the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit. It is very serious and regrettable and may pose difficulties in maintaining trilateral coordination."

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