(Bloomberg) -- Relations between Japan and South Korea will remain important regardless of who becomes Japan’s next leader, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said as he seeks to cement recent progress in diplomatic ties before a leadership transition in Tokyo.
Kishida made the comment Friday in talks with South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, during a visit seen as part of his efforts to highlight the improvement in ties between the neighbors achieved by the two leaders.
“Prime Minister Kishida said he would continue supporting the relations between South Korea and Japan,” Yoon’s Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters.
Yoon and Kishida signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on evacuating their citizens from third countries in case of emergency. They also agreed to consider streamlining screening procedures for visitors traveling between the two nations, Kim said.
South Korea’s president said he hoped the positive momentum to continue for their cooperation as well as for progress in trilateral partnership with the US.
Yoon met with Kishida 12 times as head of state and pressed ahead with measures aiming at overcoming bilateral issues including trade disputes and lingering resentment over Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945. Yoon did so even at the risk of denting public support at home.
Kishida said last month that he wouldn’t run for re-election as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party after his approval ratings sagged consistently due to voters’ frustration over the rising cost of living and his handling of a political funding scandal. Because of its dominance in parliament, the LDP’s Sept. 27 vote is all but certain to determine who will replace Kishida as premier.
The transition adds uncertainty to Yoon’s foreign policy agenda. Yoon has made improving ties with Japan and the US a priority of his administration to counter threats from North Korea as the US also prepares to elect a new leader in November.
In July, defense chiefs from the three countries signed a pact on military training as they seek to bind the trilateral relationship so tightly that it would be hard to unravel if the Republicans win the White House in November. The deal built on a major summit hosted by President Joe Biden at Camp David about a year ago.
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