IRIA News

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at a landmark summit in Tokyo on March 16, 2023. The two leaders agreed to look past their differences to counter growing regional challenges.

The meeting between the South Korean and Japanese leaders was held in Tokyo. This is the first time that a South Korean leader has traveled to Japan in the last 12 years. The two leaders pondered on North Korea’s increasing aggression in the region and its frequent missile tests as well as China’s groining military might in the region.

Though regional rivals over territorial disputes, South Korea and Japan have come closer lately due to their mutual interests regarding North Korea and China as well as their ties with the United States and other Western allies.

“From now on, I would like to open a new chapter in Japan-South Korea relations through frequent visits by both sides that are not tied down by formality,” the Japanese prime minister said after meeting the South Korean president in Tokyo.

After their meeting in Tokyo, the South Korean and Japanese leaders held a joint press conference. “Strengthening Japan-South Korea ties in the current strategic environment is urgent,” Kishida told reporters at the joint press conference. “I hope this visit will nurture trust and friendship and significantly elevate Japan-South Korea relations,” he added.

#PMinAction: On March 16, 2023, Prime Minister Kishida held a summit meeting and other events with H.E. Mr. Yoon Suk Yeol, President of the Republic of Korea, at the Prime Minister’s Office.

🔗https://t.co/JjzQsxFj3M#DiplomacySecurity #JPNKORsummit pic.twitter.com/M1hYiQ9cgo

— PM’s Office of Japan (@JPN_PMO) March 16, 2023

“Today’s meeting with Prime Minister Kishida has a special meaning of letting the people of our two countries know that South Korea-Japan relations, which have gone through difficult times due to various pending issues, are at a new starting point,” Yoon said during the press conference. “Korea and Japan must closely cooperate in solidarity to wisely deal with these illegal threats.”

The two leaders also agreed to revive regular bilateral visits and to restore security dialogues that were suspended since 2018. South Korean President Yoon declared a “complete normalization” of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) intelligence-sharing pact between the two nations. Earlier in 2019, South Korea threatened to pull out of the agreement.

The normalization of the intelligence sharing agreement suggests that the two countries would be able to share information on North Korea’s nuclear missile launches and trajectories, and respond to them, the South Korean president stressed.

With increasing cooperation between the two countries, it is speculated that Japanese leadership may invite the South Korean president to participate in the upcoming G7 event that shall be held in Hiroshima in May this year.

The landmark meeting between two of its biggest regional rivals was not perceived well by North Korea. Hours before the South Korean president landed in Tokyo, the Pyongyang test fired the largest road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile in the world, the Hwasong 17. The missile traveled for 6,000 kilometers and reached the highest of about 1000 kilometers before landing in the Sea of Japan.

Under severe pressure from North Korea’s increasing military activities and missile tests, South Korea has already hinted at its willingness to increase its role in the Western alliance in the Indo-Pacific region. South Korea is conducting frequent military exercises with the U.S. Seoul is also aligning itself with the Quad, a four-nation bloc consisting of the U.S., Australia, India, and Japan, to safeguard its interests in light of China’s increasing influence in the region. South Korean leadership has shown a willingness to join the Quad Alliance as the fifth member.

Washington has hailed the summit between South Korea and Japan as a positive progress between its “indispensable allies”. The U.S. States Department spokesperson said that “Improved ties between Seoul and Tokyo will help us embrace trilateral opportunities to advance our common regional and international priorities, including our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. We applaud Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon for taking this positive step forward”.

South Korea and Japan have historical disputes ranging back to 1910 when Japan occupied the peninsula. The animosity between the two countries continues based on territorial disputes related to the islands in the Sea of Japan.