Nashville Standard

United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, recently concluded an eight-day official visit to Japan and South Korea. The delegation, comprising seven senators, met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Suk-yeol Yoon. They also participated in the Second Annual Trilateral Executive Dialogue in Seoul, which brought together top U.S., ROK, and Japanese government and business leaders for strategic and economic discussions.

The bipartisan congressional delegation included Senators John Thune (R-SD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Gary Peters (D-MI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and Katie Britt (R-AL).

“At a time when American leadership is needed in the Indo-Pacific and around the world, I was honored to lead my Senate colleagues on this official visit to recognize and thank Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Suk-yeol Yoon for their courageous and decisive leadership to strengthen their respective bilateral alliances with the United States and to raise our Trilateral Strategic Partnership to new heights,” said Senator Hagerty. “My colleagues and I were also pleased to attend the Second Annual Trilateral Executive Dialogue in Seoul to support President Yoon’s and Prime Minister Kishida’s bold and far-sighted leadership, and to demonstrate to the peoples of the United States, South Korea, and Japan the strategic and economic benefits of stronger trilateral relations. My firm belief is that deeper economic ties among our three nations will reinforce and strengthen our shared economic and national security interests. As a Senator and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, I know firsthand how critical our alliances with Japan—the world’s third-largest economy and host to some 55,000 U.S. service members—and South Korea—the world’s 14th largest economy and host to nearly 29,000 U.S. troops—are to advancing the security and prosperity of the American people and countering Communist China’s growing threats to the free and open Indo-Pacific.”

In Tokyo, the delegation met with Prime Minister Kishida, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa, Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara, Minister of Trade, Economic Affairs Ken Saito, National Security Advisor Takeo Akiba, as well as leading Japanese lawmakers.

In Seoul, Hagerty's group attended a dinner hosted by President Yoon and First Lady Keon-hee Kim. They also met with National Defense Advisor Won-sik Shin, Foreign Affairs Minister Tae-yul Cho, Trade Industry Economy Minister Duk-geun Ahn, along with top business leaders including Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung, SK Chairman Tae-won Chey, Samsung Chairman Jay Y. Lee, LG Vice Chairman HC Shin, and Coupang Global CEO Harold HL Rogers.

Photos from these meetings can be found below:

Hagerty & Senators meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

Hagerty & Senators attend dinner hosted by ROK President Suk-yeol Yoon

Hagerty speaks at Trilateral Executive Dialogue on panel with ROK Foreign Minister Tae-yul Cho

Hagerty-led delegation attends high-level Trilateral Executive Dialogue in Seoul

Hagerty leads delegation in Kantei en route to meet Japanese Prime Minister Kishida

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