South Korea and Japan reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula during a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the southeastern port city of Busan on Tuesday.

In a press briefing after the summit, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Lee had conveyed to Ishiba that the two nations should pursue future-oriented cooperation even as they look squarely at the past. 

The two leaders also agreed to jointly respond to the recent upheaval in international trade rules.

After the summit, Ishiba, who is set to resign after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party elects a new leader next month, told Japanese reporters that he hopes the next administration will continue to pursue bilateral cooperation, adding that Tokyo should have the courage to directly confront the past.