The governments of South Korea and Japan have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding to assist each other in evacuating their nationals in the event of an emergency in a third country, according to a report by Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 3rd.
According to the report, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit South Korea on the 6th and 7th to hold a summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol, where they will discuss a "bilateral cooperation system for emergencies in third countries" and sign the related memorandum of understanding.
The two countries are expected to strengthen evacuation cooperation, including mutual use of transportation means such as chartered planes and vehicles, and establish a system to protect the safety of their nationals. Even during peacetime, they will promote intergovernmental information sharing, including cooperation between their consular authorities.
This will be the first time Japan has signed a memorandum with a foreign country regarding cooperation in evacuating its nationals. Nikkei noted, "Relations between South Korea and Japan have improved during Prime Minister Kishida's tenure," and added, "Before the Prime Minister steps down at the end of this month, he intends to demonstrate a strong bilateral relationship, including cooperation in evacuating nationals from third countries, both domestically and internationally."
Since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration in 2022, relations between South Korea and Japan have improved, and the two countries have already cooperated several times in evacuating their nationals during conflicts in third countries. This is due to the worsening global security environment, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the Gaza conflict between Israel and the Palestinian armed group Hamas, making securing evacuation means from conflict zones increasingly important.
In April last year, several Japanese nationals residing in Sudan, where armed clashes between militias occurred, evacuated together with Koreans by buses arranged by the South Korean government and others. In October of the same year, when Hamas attacked Israel, a South Korean military transport plane evacuated 163 Korean residents and also transported 45 Japanese nationals to South Korea free of charge. As a gesture of reciprocation, in the same month, a Japan Self-Defense Forces transport plane evacuated Japanese nationals from Israel to Japan and also carried 33 Koreans.
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