[Title] Press Conference by Prime Minister ISHIBA Shigeru Regarding His Summit Telephone Talk with President Lee of the Republic of Korea and Other Matters

(On Prime Minister Ishiba's impressions regarding his summit telephone talk with Republic of Korea (ROK) President Lee Jae-myung, and on whether or not there are any plans to hold on the sidelines of the upcoming G7 summit his first face-to-face bilateral summit with President Lee)

Today, I talked with ROK President Lee Jae-myung over the telephone. While this was, of course, our first time speaking with each other, I believe we had an exceptionally good exchange. From my side, naturally I first extended my congratulations to him. I told him that I very much wish to advance Japan-ROK relations further, grounded in the foundation that our governments have built up over the years.

President Lee and I shared the same recognition that the strategic environment surrounding Japan and the ROK is becoming increasingly severe and that Japan-ROK bilateral relations and Japan-U.S.-ROK trilateral cooperation are both of the utmost importance.

Some highly challenging issues exist between Japan and the ROK because we neighbor each other. At the same time, our countries face a sizable number of challenges in common, including our declining birthrates and our shrinking populations, to name just two.

As we mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-ROK relations this year, wide-reaching Japan-ROK exchanges among members of the general public are at an all-time high, for both people from Japan heading to the ROK and people from the ROK coming to Japan.

As a result of such visits, over time we have built up a broad array of exchanges among ordinary citizens. In order to develop Japan-ROK bilateral relations in a stable manner, I want to actively engage in communication with President Lee at the earliest possible time, including opportunities for us to meet face to face.

I do hope to hold a bilateral meeting with the ROK on the sidelines of the G7 summit, but that will need to be coordinated going forward.

(On whether or not there was any mention during today's telephone talk of a resolution to what is referred to as the issue of former civilian workers, and if there was, what was discussed)

Today's telephone talk was quite brief and my main objective was to extend my sincere congratulations to President Lee on taking office. We did take up our fundamental stance on each side with regard to Japan-ROK relations and emerged with a shared understanding. Within that context, we also touched on matters of mutual concern between our two countries, but, insofar as this was also a diplomatic exchange, I won't go into specifics beyond that. In any case, mindful of the current environment, we shared the understanding that it is imperative for us to continue to advance Japan-ROK bilateral relations in a stable manner. We will communicate closely with the new administration.

(On the content of the instructions Prime Minister Ishiba gave to the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in the lead-up to the upcoming House of Councillors election to incorporate into the LDP election pledge the aims of achieving a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,000 trillion yen and raising the average income by over 50 percent by 2040; on why those instructions were issued at this particular timing; and on their rationale, the key pillars of the LDP's pledge, and the future schedule)

I'm afraid this will require some explanation. In the annual wage bargaining negotiations that took place this spring, the public and private sectors acted in cooperation to advance efforts to achieve a growth-driven economy led by wage increases and investment. The result was a level of wage increases that surpassed even last year's figure, attaining the highest level of wage increases in 33 years. We must make this progress something even more powerful and enable the public to have a sense of assurance by realizing wage increases that outpace the rise in prices.

Society will become more stable as a result, and on that basis, generate new challenges and investments by a diverse range of private sector entities, ranging from major corporations to small- and medium-sized enterprises, small-scale employers, and start-ups, leading to robust economic growth. In concrete terms, we will aim to achieve an economy having a 1,000 trillion-yen nominal GDP by 2040, and I have instructed the LDP leadership to make raising the average income by at least 50 percent above the current average our foremost pledge in the upcoming House of Councillors election campaign.

At the end of this week, we will finish compiling the Government's fundamental direction for our future economic policies, including, among other things, our Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2025 and our action plan to realize a New Form of Capitalism, and we will begin implementing them without delay. The reason I gave these instructions at this particular timing was that prior to those documents being released, I wanted to share with the public a concrete image of what exactly a "strong economy" would look like.

(On whether or not Prime Minister Ishiba would agree to holding a party leaders' debate on tariffs before heading off to North America for the G7 summit, if Constitutional Democratic Party President Noda were to request it)

When we first held the party leaders' debate, I told my counterparts that I wanted them to continue to share their views with me going forward.

This topic involves diplomatic negotiations over tariffs, so while there are some areas I can speak about freely and other areas I cannot, in fact, it is critical to have a venue through which I can listen to the views and insights of my colleagues in the opposition parties, who know about a wide variety of situations on the ground. I will coordinate with them about the timing of our debate.