Ties with S. Korea Always Important: Japan PM

   Tokyo, April 4 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday that close Japan-South Korea cooperation is "important regardless of the situation."
   Ishiba made the comment at a House of Representatives Cabinet Committee meeting in the wake of a decision by South Korea's Constitutional Court the same day to immediately ouster impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol.
   While pointing out that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between the East Asian neighbors, he noted that bilateral cooperation is "extremely important not only in the security field but for our country's independence and peace, as well as for peace and stability in the region."
   As for a presidential election to be held later, Ishiba only said it is "up to South Korea's democracy to decide" who will succeed Yoon, whose declaration of "emergency martial law" last December was found unconstitutional by the court.

(2025/04/04-15:33)