Kono Asks Britain to Listen to Japan Concerns about Brexit

September 19, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono asked visiting British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Tuesday to listen to Japanese companies concerns about the impact from Britain's exit from the European Union, or Brexit.

Hunt pledged to do so, according to Japanese officials.

At the meeting in Tokyo, the foreign ministers underscored the importance of fully implementing U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions against North Korea and reaffirmed their countries' common policy of boosting efforts to cope with Pyongyang's smuggling of embargoed goods in the high seas.

Kono told a joint press conference after the talks that Japan will welcome an increase in Britain's presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

In his talks held earlier in the day with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Hunt said he is glad to see cooperation between Britain and Japan progressing more robustly, including in the security field, according to Japanese officials.

Abe was quoted as saying that Japan and Britain should keep cooperating in promoting the rule of law in the sea. Jiji Press