For the first time in five years, a Japanese head of government traveled to South Korea with Kishida. Both countries want to cooperate more closely with each other again – a solidarity against North Korea and China.
The two most important US allies in East Asia, Japan and South Korea, are taking another step towards each other: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is visiting the South Korean capital Seoul and is meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol there. It is the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to South Korea in five years – and a return visit.
Kishida’s stay in Seoul is intended to be the start of regular meetings and result in closer security and economic cooperation. Because of North Korea’s and China’s provocations in the region, the United States had urged both countries to work together more.
South Korea’s President Yoon fell on sympathetic ears. Since taking office a year ago, he has advocated looking forward rather than back – to the time when Korea was under Japanese colonial rule. During his visit to Tokyo in March, he set up a fund to compensate former South Korean forced laborers, in which Korean companies are to participate.
Protests against Kishida’s visit
Because Japan’s government has so far made no move to persuade its own companies to pay compensation, nor has it announced an apology long demanded by victims, expectations of Kishida’s trip are high.
The visit is accompanied by protests instigated by the democratic opposition, which accuses Yoon of demeaning himself towards Japan. Either way, the two politicians will see each other again in two weeks at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, to which South Korea has been invited as a guest.