Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasized that "it is important to strengthen deterrence and response capabilities through security cooperation between the United States and Japan, South Korea and Japan, and the United States and Japan," in connection with the ROK-U.S.-Japan summit, which is scheduled to be held on the occasion of the Group of Seven (G7) summit to be held on 19 March.

According to the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers on the 16th, Prime Minister Kishida said in an interview with Japanese media the day before, "The security environment in the (East Asia) region is becoming more urgent."

Prime Minister Kishida said, "During the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, we will also hold a ROK-U.S.-Japan summit to deepen discussions," adding, "South Korea, Japan, and the United States will work together to contribute to regional peace and stability."

Prime Minister Kishida is coordinating plans to hold a Japan-South Korea summit with US President Joe Biden on 18 March and a ROK-Japan summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol on 21 July, the closing day of the G7 summit.

It is understood that he emphasized strengthening security cooperation between the United States and Japan, keeping in mind North Korea, which is pursuing nuclear and missile development, and China, which is strengthening its hegemonic moves.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, a spokesman for the Japanese government, said at a press conference on Tuesday that President Biden would attend the G7 Summit, saying, "I understand that the US Government has announced that President Biden will visit Japan on the 18th to attend the G7 Summit in Hiroshima."

Minister Matsuno said, "If various circumstances permit, we plan to hold a US-Japan summit on 18 July," and "We will also hold a ROK-US-Japan summit."

The issue of raising the US federal debt ceiling has raised the possibility that President Biden will not attend the G7 summit, but the US government announced President Biden's visit to Japan the day before.

Regarding generative artificial intelligence (AI), represented by 'ChatGPT', they expressed their desire to operate the so-called 'Hiroshima AI Process' through an agreement between the heads of state to create international norms and a framework for international information distribution.

"Generative AI has the potential and risks to change economies, industries, and societies from the ground up," Kishida said, "and I will lead discussions on the possibility of using generative AI in a responsible way."

Commenting on the significance of the G7 summit being held in Hiroshima, where the atomic bomb was dropped in 1945, he said, "It is historically weighty for the G7 and invited countries to gather in a region that symbolizes the pledge of peace."

Hiroshima is Prime Minister Kishida's constituency.

In 2016, when he was foreign minister, Japan hosted the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Hiroshima.

At the summit, Prime Minister Kishida also took aim at China for threatening Taiwan and Russia for invading Ukraine, saying, "I want to send a message to the international community that we do not allow unilateral changes in the status quo by force."

He also called attention to the need for a "world without nuclear weapons," which he has made his lifelong political task, and added that he would convey the horrors of the bombing.

Kishida, meanwhile, expressed reservations about the dissolution of the House of Representatives (lower house) and the general election, which emerged as a concern in Japanese politics following the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's victory in a parliamentary by-election last month, saying, "I don't change the fact that we are not considering it now."

He said, "We will make an appropriate judgment based on various circumstances in the future as to when we will ask for the people's judgment."

(Photo = AP, Yonhap News)