South Korean, Japanese Leaders to Hold Summit over North Provocations

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe will hold a summit in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on Wednesday to discuss North Korea's provocations and other bilateral issues, her office Cheong Wa Dae said.

    Their summit was arranged amid the communist state's unrelenting saber-rattling, including its launch of three mid-range ballistic missiles Monday and a submarine-launched ballistic missile test last month, state news agency (Yonhap) reported.

    During the summit, the two leaders are also expected to discuss the progress in the implementation of last year's deal between Seoul and Tokyo to settle the thorny issue of Japan's wartime enslavement of Korean women.

    Japan has recently wired 1 billion yen (US$9.6 million) to the South Korean side to fulfill its part of the landmark deal. The fund will be used to heal the psychological scars of the victims and restore their honor under the December 28 deal, Seoul and Tokyo have said.

    Wednesday's summit will be the third one between Park and Abe. Their last meeting was held on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in March. Park and Abe are in Vientiane to attend multiple summits with the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Source: QNA