"President Yoon, Proposal for Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida During Japan Visit"

Report by Japan's Kyodo News Agency

It has been reported that President Yoon Suk-yeol is coordinating a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio during his visit to Japan this month.

On the 6th, Japan's Kyodo News, citing South Korea-Japan diplomatic sources, reported that a plan for President Yoon to visit Japan on the 16th to 17th of this month is emerging.

Earlier, a senior official from the Presidential Office stated that following the South Korean government's announcement of a solution to the 'forced labor compensation' issue, discussions regarding President Yoon's visit to Japan and a summit meeting have "not yet begun." He added, "It has now been 12 years since the bilateral South Korea-Japan summits, involving leaders traveling between the two countries, were suspended," and said, "Both governments are facing this issue directly, and if necessary, the possibility of discussing it in the future remains open."

Japan's government spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu, also stated that morning, "No schedule has been set for future diplomatic meetings between the leaders of South Korea and Japan."

Shuttle diplomacy between the two leaders was suspended after then-Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko visited Seoul in October 2011, and then-President Lee Myung-bak visited Japan in December of the same year.