President Lee Jae Myung says that during his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, he underlined the need for South Korea, China and Japan to find common ground and then communicate and cooperate.

Lee summarized their discussion Tuesday at a joint press release held after the summit in Japan’s Nara Prefecture.

Lee said he and Takaichi exchanged views on regional and global issues and agreed on the importance of cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo as well as among Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing to achieve peace and stability in the region amid the rapidly changing international situation. 

He said South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and permanent peace in the region, while agreeing to closely cooperate on North Korea policies. 

The president said he is content that meaningful progress was made on historical issues with Tuesday’s summit, adding that the two countries agreed to conduct DNA tests to identify the victims of the flooding of Japan’s Josei underwater coal mine and hold working-level talks to coordinate the details. 

Lee noted that one-hundred-83 Koreans and Japanese died in the 1942 disaster and that remains were only found at the site in August. 

The president said he and the Japanese prime minister also held extensive discussions on substantive ways to continue future-oriented cooperation based on shuttle diplomacy.