Former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, visiting Korea, emphasized on the 8th that "Korea and Japan must lead discussions on the Hormuz Strait blockade issue."
At his keynote speech at the Asan Plenum 2026, hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies under the theme of "Alliance Modernization," Ishiba said, "Like-minded nations including Korea and Japan must unite to respond (to the strait blockade)."
"Iran's blockade of the strait is an act that threatens world peace by disrupting oil transportation from the Middle East," he noted, adding that "rather than individual or regional responses, we need to approach this as a security measure based on UN resolutions." He particularly emphasized that "Korea and Japan need to lead this discussion at the UN."
Ishiba also stressed the need for an Asian version of NATO. "As the next step after modernizing the US-Japan and US-Korea alliances and strengthening connections among participating countries, building a collective defense framework like NATO in the Asia-Pacific region is an important task," he said.
Meanwhile, Ishiba had lunch with President Lee Jae-myung at the Blue House on the same day, offering warm words that "President Lee is popular in Japan as well."