September 6 (EUROPA PRESS) –
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday called for further strengthening cooperation between their respective countries during a symbolic meeting in Seoul ahead of an imminent change of leadership in the Japanese government, scheduled for later this month.
In March of last year, Kishida and Yoon agreed to resume high-level visits and, after a first trip by the South Korean leader, they met again to demonstrate their good rapport in the face of shared fears regarding China and, mainly, North Korea.
The two leaders signed a memorandum on evacuating third-country nationals in the event of an emergency and pledged to consider relaxing controls on tourists, in order to take advantage of the “positive momentum” of this new relaunch of bilateral ties.
“It is important to maintain what we have built,” Yoon stressed, adding that both countries have a “forward-looking attitude” to overcome historical tensions. “We can reach a turning point next year,” when 60 years have passed since the normalization of relations, and raise relations “to a new level,” he added, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Friday’s meeting is the last with Kishida as the main character, as the Japanese prime minister announced in August that he would step down and his party will choose a replacement on September 27. However, neither side expects the change of leadership to imply a change in current policies.
Kishida has taken the opportunity to reiterate some of these positions, which include supporting “peaceful reunification” of the Korean peninsula.
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