S.Korea denies reports that Yoon asked to attend Quad summit in Japan

SEOUL (Reuters) -The office of South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-Yeoul on Thursday denied Japanese media reports that he had asked to attend an upcoming summit of the Quad, which includes the United States, India, Australia and Japan, as an observer.

“We have checked around about that report but it is not true and something that was not discussed with us,” his spokesperson Bae Hyun-jin said during a regular briefing.

Asked about possible summits with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Bae added Yoon “welcomes” early meetings.

Tokyo also denied any request from Yoon had been received.

“Japan has not received any request mentioned in a media report,” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a regular news conference.

Yoon, who will take office on May 10, is working to map out his foreign policy directions, with a potential summit in Seoul with Biden during his Asia trip when he visits Japan.

(Reporting by Josh Smith and Soo-hyang Choi; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Lincoln Feast.)