Japan-South Korea cooperation needed for global peace, President Yoon says in meeting PM Kishida

South Korean President YoonSuk Yeol shakes hands with Japanese PM Fumio Kishida during their meeting at the presidential office on May 07, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Getty images

Cooperation between Japan and South Korea is necessary for global peace and prosperity, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said as he met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Seoul on Sunday.

Yoon said he feels a responsibility to repair ties and that the meeting shows that relations are moving forward quickly.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in South Korea early on Sunday as Seoul and Tokyo seek to restart their “shuttle diplomacy” and mend ties in the face of growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang.

This is the first official bilateral visit by a Japanese leader to South Korea in over a decade. He was greeted by officials ahead of a key summit later in the day with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The East Asian neighbours, both key security allies of the United States, have long been at odds over historic issues linked to Japan’s brutal 1910 to 1945 colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula, including sexual slavery and forced labour.

But President Yoon has made resetting ties with Japan a top priority for his administration, and was in Tokyo in March for a key fence-mending visit.