Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Departs for South Korea to Attend 'Korea-China-Japan Summit'

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
Photo by Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida departed for South Korea on the 26th for a 1-night, 2-day trip to attend the Korea-China-Japan summit held in Seoul.

According to Kyodo News, Prime Minister Kishida departed from Tokyo Haneda Airport on a private jet that morning. This visit marks Kishida's first trip to South Korea in a year since the Korea-Japan summit held in Seoul last May.

Before the Korea-China-Japan summit on the 27th, Kishida will hold separate bilateral talks with President Yoon Suk-yeol and Chinese Premier Li Chang in the afternoon.

In a recent interview with Kyodo News, Kishida stated that next year, marking the 60th anniversary of Korea-Japan diplomatic normalization, they intend to announce a joint document. At the Korea-Japan summit, discussions are expected to cover trilateral cooperation among Korea, the U.S., and Japan, compensation for victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial period, and the "Line Yahoo" incident, which arose from administrative guidance by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

During the talks with Premier Li, Kishida is expected to request the prompt lifting of China's ban on imports of Japanese seafood, which was imposed in response to the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (referred to by the Japanese government as "treated water") into the ocean.

Regarding the trilateral summit, Kishida expressed his intention to discuss North Korea's nuclear and missile issues and the matter of Japanese abductees, aiming to seek close communication.

Meanwhile, the Korea-China-Japan summit, first held in Fukuoka, Japan in 2008, was suspended for 4 years and 5 months after the 8th meeting in Chengdu, China in 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons, and has now resumed.