Yoon Arrives in Japan... Shuttle Diplomacy and First Step Toward Normalizing Korea-Japan Relations (Comprehensive)

Starting with a Luncheon Meeting with Korean Residents
Summit Talks and Joint Press Conference
Dinner Schedule with Prime Minister Kishida
Discussion on Export Regulation Lift and GSOMIA

On the Second Day, Meeting with Political Figures
Attendance at the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable

President Yoon Suk-yeol visited Japan on the 16th for a Korea-Japan summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Following the announcement of a solution to the forced labor issue, President Yoon aims to restore shuttle diplomacy, which had been severed since 2011, and open the door to normalizing Korea-Japan relations for future generations.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee, who visited Japan for a 2-day trip, arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan on the 16th and are disembarking from Air Force One. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the day, President Yoon arrived at Tokyo Haneda Airport around 11:50 a.m. aboard Air Force One, the presidential aircraft, and began eight official engagements including the Korea-Japan summit. This visit comes just ten days after the government announced on the 6th a solution to the forced labor issue, whereby domestic companies would make third-party subrogated payments to the victims of forced labor through the Foundation for Supporting Victims of Forced Mobilization during Japanese Colonial Rule, following a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the victims.

At the airport, Ambassador Yoon Deok-min to Japan and his spouse welcomed President Yoon. On the Japanese side, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei, Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Takehiro Funakoshi, and Ambassador to Korea Koichi Aiboshi were present to greet the president.

This visit marks the first Korea-Japan shuttle diplomacy in 12 years since then-Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s visit to Korea in October 2011 and then-President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Japan in December of the same year. Shuttle diplomacy was suspended after the deterioration of Korea-Japan relations following Lee’s visit to Dokdo in 2012. Four years ago, in June 2019, President Moon Jae-in’s visit to Osaka, Japan, was for the G20 summit and not part of shuttle diplomacy.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon’s schedule begins with a luncheon meeting with Korean residents in Japan, followed by a welcoming ceremony, the summit meeting, a joint press conference, and a dinner with Prime Minister Kishida. His attendance at the luncheon with the Korean community just before the summit is interpreted as a gesture to empower the Korean residents in Japan who have represented the Korean community during the strained phase of bilateral relations. As the first step toward normalizing Korea-Japan relations, it is expected that President Yoon will express his intention to actively support the Korean community’s activities within Japanese society. The summit with Prime Minister Kishida is expected to cover key issues such as compensation for victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial period, the lifting of Japan’s export restrictions on South Korea and restoration of South Korea to Japan’s whitelist, and the unstable General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).

Immediately after the summit, instead of issuing a joint declaration, the two leaders will each announce the results of their talks at a joint press conference. The presidential office plans to form a preparatory committee to prepare for a new future between Korea and Japan through President Yoon’s visit, and after discussing agreements, they intend to announce a joint declaration.

On the following day, the 17th, President Yoon will meet with key political figures from the Korea-Japan Parliamentary League, a legislative exchange group, and the Korea-Japan Cooperation Committee, which handles private sector exchanges. He will then attend the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable (BRT), which includes Korean and Japanese business leaders, where he will present a vision for Korea-Japan economic cooperation and support exchanges between businesspeople. Afterwards, he will attend a future generations lecture at Keio University, a prestigious private university in Japan, with Japanese university students and Korean international students, before returning home late in the afternoon on the 17th. At the lecture, President Yoon plans to encourage the future leaders of Korea-Japan relations and create an opportunity to broaden mutual understanding for expanded exchanges between the two countries.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

First Lady Kim Keon-hee, accompanying President Yoon on this visit, is reportedly planning to spend time fostering friendship with Mrs. Yuko Kishida by making wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets). The two ladies first met last November during the G20 summit held in Indonesia. Additionally, First Lady Kim is scheduled to meet with renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando. The two became acquainted in 2016 when Kim, then CEO of Kobana Contents, organized the exhibition “Le Corbusier, the Father of Modern Architecture.”