Yoon Officializes Visit to Japan on 16-17th... Resuming Summit Exchanges After 12 Years

Mrs. Kim Geon-hee Accompanies... Social Event with Mrs. Kishida Yuko

President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee will visit Japan on June 16-17. This marks the first visit to Japan in about four years since former President Moon Jae-in attended the G20 summit in Osaka in June 2019.

The visit was arranged at the invitation of the Japanese government, and the Presidential Office announced on the 9th through a press release that President Yoon will hold a Korea-Japan summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. A social event will also be held between First Lady Kim and Mrs. Yuko Kishida.

President Yoon Suk-yeol is shaking hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and taking a commemorative photo at a Korea-Japan summit held at a hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in November last year. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The detailed schedule is being coordinated with the Japanese side. Some expect that business leaders, including heads of major companies, will accompany the delegation. The Presidential Office evaluated that the visit by President Yoon and his wife marks the resumption of bilateral Korea-Japan summit exchanges, which had been suspended for 12 years. A Presidential Office official explained, "This will be an important milestone for the improvement and development of Korea-Japan relations," adding, "We hope that cooperation across security, economy, and socio-cultural fields will expand and that exchanges between the peoples of both countries will become more active as they overcome the unfortunate history of the past and move toward the future."