Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit South Korea in early May to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol, Kyodo News reports, citing sources it didn’t identify. The meeting is expected to take place around May 7 or May 8, the report says.
(Bloomberg) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit South Korea in early May to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol, Kyodo News reports, citing sources it didn’t identify. The meeting is expected to take place around May 7 or May 8, the report says.
The visit is aimed at strengthening cooperation with its neighbor in dealing with North Korea, which has repeatedly launched ballistic missiles, according to the report.
Kishida told reporters on Saturday that no specific date had yet been set, when asked about the trip, before he departed for his visit to African countries.
North Korea has recently taken a more confrontational stance, with its foreign minister making a statement last week that Pyongyang will retain its nuclear weapons and punish Group of Seven members who try to change that.
South Korea’s presidential office said no official decision has been made yet on the reported summit, according to Yonhap News. The office did not respond to text messages seeking confirmation and comment by Bloomberg.
Relations between Japan and South Korea have been steadily improving. In March, both leaders pledged at a rare summit in Tokyo their readiness to end a long-simmering dispute that had hurt security and trade ties. They also agreed to resume shuttle diplomacy, an initiative that had been suspended for years due to political acrimony.
Read more: South Korea, Japan Leaders Meet to End Feud and Heal Trade Rift
Japan also plans to invite South Korea to an outreach meeting at the G-7 summit to be held in Hiroshima next month. In another sign of warming ties, the Japanese government announced on Friday that it would restore South Korea’s preferred trading status.
–With assistance from Youkyung Lee.
(Updates with Kishida’s comment in the third paragraph)
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