SEOUL: US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Wednesday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol deserve to jointly receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a speech at the Hudson Institute, a US think tank, Campbell said that Kishida and Yoon are contributing to security in the Indo-Pacific region through the improvement of Japan-South Korea relations and trilateral cooperation between the two countries and the United States.

In August last year, US President Joe Biden invited the two Asian leaders to the Camp David presidential retreat near Washington for a three-way summit, where they agreed to boost security cooperation in light of threats from China and North Korea.

“It was remarkable to see the determination on the part of both leaders of Japan and South Korea to overcome both incredibly difficult historical issues, but also interest groups and political groups in both countries that are determined not to see that improvement,” Campbell said.

In South Korea, Yoon’s ruling party lost the April 10 general election. But Campbell pointed out that opinion polls in the country show support for his foreign policy.

“I also have confidence in both of these countries and these leaders and the people around the leadership, even in the opposition in Korea, to take the necessary steps to continue to build on” trilateral relations, he said.

JIJI Press