Seoul rules out summit with Tokyo in Cambodia

Korea has no plans to hold a bilateral summit with Japan on the sidelines of a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia later this month, a presidential spokesman said yesterday.

Responding to Japanese media reports that Seoul and Tokyo are arranging a summit between President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda during the Cambodia meeting, presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha said there has been no “official request” from the Japanese side for a summit.

“We have no reason to be in a hurry for a Korea-Japan summit,” Park told reporters. Relations between Seoul and Tokyo remain tense after Tokyo’s renewed claims to Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.

Park also said no “specific” work is under way for a summit between Lee and U.S. President Barack Obama, who was re-elected to a second term last week.

Earlier in the day, Lee held a meeting with senior secretaries and called for thorough measures to ensure a stable supply of electricity during the winter season after operations at three nuclear power reactors were suspended, according to Park.

Public anxiety about a possible power shortage remains high after authorities early this month shut down two nuclear reactors at Yeonggwang, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) southwest of Seoul, to replace parts with forged quality certificates.

“There is a lot of concern over an electricity shortage during winter, so related ministries should provide information to the people and make thorough measures to prevent any disruptions in industrial production,” Lee said during the meeting, according to Park.

Yonhap