Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi Before Their Meeting – United States Department of State

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  It’s a great pleasure to be with Foreign Minister Iwaya and all of our colleagues from Japan.  One of the things that I’m proudest of these past four years is the partnership that we’ve built with Japan, surpassing even everything we’ve had in years past.  And the relationship between our countries is stronger than it’s ever been, and it’s really a cornerstone of peace, stability, and security in the region, in the Indo-Pacific, and a partnership around the world for so many global issues of common concern to our people.

I’m looking forward to this opportunity to talk about the many challenges we continue to face on a daily basis, but also the work that we continue to do and will continue to do through the end of the year and into next year on continuing to strengthen the relationship and the partnership.

One of the significant achievements as well, of course, is the trilateral relationship between Japan, Korea, and the United States, particularly President Biden’s work at the Camp David Summit.  And as a result of that, the meeting that the leaders will have tomorrow I think will show as well that that partnership is increasingly essential.

So in so many areas I couldn’t be more grateful for the work that we’ve been able to do, and I look forward to the conversation this afternoon.

FOREIGN MINISTER IWAYA:  (In Japanese.)