Plans Made For High-Level Talks With S. Korea

The Japanese and South Korean governments are considering holding a summit in mid-November to improve ties, reports the Kyodo news agency.

The talks would focus on improving relations long soured by issues left over from Japan’s colonial occupation of Korea, said unnamed Japanese government sources.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol could meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia later this month, the sources said.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso traveled to Seoul on Wednesday to meet with President Yoon. Both sides agreed on the need for further communication to enhance bilateral relations.

Relations soured after South Korea’s top court ruled in 2018 that Japanese firms Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel must pay damages over their use of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

The move toward better relations also comes as North Korea has stepped up its provocations, including numerous missile launches. Last month, Pyongyang launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan.