Seoul and Tokyo are in talks to arrange Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to South Korea in the first half of May for summit talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Japanese media reported Saturday that the two countries are seeking to arrange Kishida's visit to Seoul and a summit with Yoon on May 7 and 8.
South Korea's presidential office said Friday that no decision has been made yet on the reported plans of a summit between Yoon and Kishida in Seoul next month.
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (123rf) |
"Nothing has been officially decided yet," a senior presidential official told reporters in Boston, where Yoon is on the second leg of his state visit to the United States.
The official, however, did not deny that discussions were on way between the two sides.
Yoon held a summit with Kishida in Tokyo last month in the wake of his government's decision to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without contributions from Japanese firms.
During Yoon's visit to Japan in March, the two leaders agreed to resume an arrangement to conduct regular reciprocal visits.
If the envisioned trip takes place, it will mark the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to Korea in five years and three months since then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe traveled to attend the opening of the PyeongChang Olympics in February 2018.
It will also be Kishida's first visit to Seoul since taking office in October 2021.
Kishida appears to have deemed it necessary to respond to stance of Yoon, who has placed importance on relations with Japan and has been trying to settle the issue of the wartime labor lawsuits, Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun said.
From news reports
