PRIME TIME NEWS 22:00 Korea, Japan hold finance ministers’ meeting

PRIME TIME NEWS 22:00 Korea, Japan hold finance ministers’ meeting, ARIRANG NEWS 22:00
Hello… it′s Saturday the twenty-third of May… you are tuned in to our late night newscast coming to you from Arirang′s News Center in Seoul.
It′s great as always to have you with us,…
I′m Mark Broome.
Korea, Japan hold finance ministers′ meeting
We start with the first round of finance minister talks between Korea and Japan in more than two-and-a-half years.
The meeting,.. held in Tokyo earlier today,… was focused on boosting the two countries′ economic ties during this time of global uncertainty.
Ji Myung-kil reports.
Korea′s finance minister Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso have exchanged views on the global economic situation and ways to boost economic cooperation between the two countries.
After their meeting in Tokyo on Saturday,… the two sides issued a joint statement calling for Seoul and Tokyo to coordinate their macroeconomic policies in a way that can benefit both sides.
It urged Korea and Japan to devise policy measures that can mitigate unexpected shock in financial markets and to collaborate when making inroads into foreign markets.
The finance chiefs also agreed to work more closely in the G20 and ASEAN-plus-three,… as well as the ongoing three-way talks between Korea, Japan and China for a free trade agreement.
They agreed to share policies in regards to their two countries′ rapidly aging populations and vowed to push for reforms to achieve sustainable growth.
The two officials also shared their views on the China-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank as Korea is expected to hold the fourth largest stake in the AIIB due to its relatively strong economic power in Asia.
Almost all Asian countries,… with the notable exception of Japan,… have applied to be members of the AIIB.
The meeting comes at a sensitive time as economic and financial cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo has been dragged down by the Abe administration′s continual efforts to deny Japan′s past colonial and wartime atrocities.
Choi′s visit marks the first time a deputy prime minister level official has visited Japan since Korea-Japan relations soured after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came into office.
The next finance ministers′ meeting will be held in Korea next year.
Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News.
Health minister orders extra precaution against MERS
Korea′s health minister has ordered that the country take extra precautions against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome after a third case was confirmed in Korea earlier this week.
Visiting Incheon International Airport′s quarantine section on Saturday,… Moon Hyung-pyo asked officials to thoroughly inspect international passengers arriving in Korea,… as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the virus.
MERS is a very rare viral respiratory illness.
Only slightly over one-thousand cases have been reported globally since the first case was confirmed in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
There′s currently no vaccine or treatment for the disease which,