South Korean President to visit Japan for Summit

Seoul, The Gulf Observer: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife will visit Japan on March 16-17 at Tokyo’s invitation, the first such visit in 12 years after Seoul announced a plan to end a protracted dispute over war-time forced labour.

Yoon will hold a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Reuters reported.

The visit will be an important milestone in the improvement and development of relations between South Korea and Japan, Yoon’s office said.

South Korea is an important neighbor with which we should cooperate in addressing various issues in the international community, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a briefing.

Matsuno said, I hope that through this visit to Japan, Japan-Korea relations will further develop based on the friendly and cooperative relations that have existed since the normalization of diplomatic relations.

Matsuno added nothing has been decided when asked about potential agenda items.

Yoon’s office said he hoped to expand various security, economy, and cultural fields, and revitalize exchanges between people in the two countries “in order to overcome the unfortunate history of the past and move forward into the future.”

South Korean defense ministry said it would work with Japan to enhance security cooperation, including trilateral relations with the United States.