Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) shakes hands with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ahead of a summit meeting at the president’s office in Seoul on Sunday.
16:50 JST, May 27, 2024
SEOUL – Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol held a summit meeting in Seoul on Sunday. The two leaders agreed to strengthen relations through close communication at all levels, including between leaders, ahead of the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Seoul next year in 1965.
This is the tenth face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since November last year and the fourth instance of “shuttle diplomacy” – where leaders visit each other’s countries.
After Yoon’s conservative ruling party was defeated in April’s general election, there were concerns about the impact on Japan-South Korea relations. However, Yoon stressed that he would continue to prioritize relations with Japan.
Regarding the upcoming 60th anniversary, Yoon said he would like to work on creating a historic turning point that would take relations between the two countries to new heights.
The two leaders agreed to further enhance coordination between Japan and South Korea, with a view to maintaining and strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific and addressing global challenges.
Kishida and Yoon also agreed to maintain shuttle diplomacy and respond to North Korea, which continues to develop nuclear weapons and missiles, with bilateral and trilateral coordination between Japan, South Korea and the United States. In addition, they welcomed further cooperation on hydrogen and ammonia, which are attracting attention as next-generation fuels.
Yoon said the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ administrative sanctions against Line app operator LY Corp. were a matter separate from diplomacy and should be properly managed to avoid an unresolved issue arose.
