New South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul accused North Korea on Friday of trying to stage provocations to, among other things, endanger the strengthening of the relations between his country and Japan.
"The South Korea–US–Japan security cooperation and the South Korea–US extended deterrence have been building up under the [South Korean President] Yoon Suk-yeol government, and we are seeing the concrete efforts to strengthen the deterrence and those taking form in a very tangible way," Cho said at a press conference upon his inauguration, noting that those developments are making North Korea "anxious."
Furthermore, Cho spoke about his hopes to improve Seoul's relations with China. "We have many areas in which we can cooperate, such as economy, arts and humanity and people-to-people exchanges. It is very important that we build trust through substantive cooperation projects," he insisted.