The heads of state and government of Japan and South Korea want to resume their mutual diplomacy visits. This was agreed by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at their summit in Tokyo on Thursday. Japan is “happy to open a new chapter” in relations between the two neighboring countries, Kishida told his interlocutor, according to the Kyodo news agency.
The visit was overshadowed by North Korea’s renewed test of a nuclear-capable missile. Both US allies want to try to resolve their disagreements over how to deal with Japan’s colonial and wartime past and quickly improve their security and economic ties. It is the first time in twelve years that Yoon, a South Korean head of state, has visited neighboring Japan for bilateral talks.
A few hours before the start of the summit, North Korea had tested a nuclear-capable missile with a range of thousands of kilometers. According to the South Korean military, the missile flew about 1,000 kilometers towards the Sea of Japan (Korean: East Sea), where it fell into the water. According to observers, North Korea’s ongoing missile tests and China’s growing claim to power underscore the urgency of Seoul and Tokyo to cooperate more closely with their security partner, the United States.
Yoon’s visit, accompanied by his wife, is seen as a clear sign of rapprochement between the two neighboring countries. South Korea’s conservative government had previously announced plans to settle the decades-long dispute over compensation for former Korean forced laborers under Japanese colonial rule (1910 to 1945). Kishida welcomed Seoul’s move. It was also considered likely given the ongoing threat from North Korea that both sides would agree to resume bilateral security talks.