Chances growing for Yoon, Kishida summit

In this Sept. 21 file photo, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in New York. Courtesy of South Korea's presidential office

By Nam Hyun-woo

Speculations of a Korea-Japan summit have erupted ahead of two major multilateral summits to be held later in November, following an increase of political interaction between officials of the two countries.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and Taro Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan had a close-door meeting on Tuesday. Aso, as the head of a Japan-South Korea cooperation committee, paid a courtesy visit to the South Korean president

Details of the Yoon-Aso meeting were not made public as the presidential office released a short statement confirming the meeting.

Yoon asked about Aso's role in developing the bilateral relations through promoting people-to-people exchanges. The former Japanese prime minister responded that conversations and cooperation should continue between the two countries, and pledged his efforts for the speedy recovery and further development of bilateral relations.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, right, shakes hands with former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso during their meeting at a hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

On Wednesday morning, Aso had a meeting with Seoul's Foreign Minister Park Jin. Park told reporters that the two countries' leaders have intentions to improve bilateral relations, and that improved ties will be beneficial for each other's national interests.

Along with Aso, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from Japan visited Seoul on Wednesday to attend a joint general meeting of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union and the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union on Wednesday.

The Japanese lawmakers offered their condolences to the victims of the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul, during a visit to the memorial altar in Seoul Plaza, on Wednesday evening. In the deadly disaster on Saturday night, at least 156 people have died, including two Japanese nationals.

Ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker Fukushiro Nukaga, chairman of the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union, signed the condolence book.

During Wednesday's meeting between South Korean and Japanese lawmakers, Seoul's ruling People Power Party interim chief Chung Jin-suk said, "The pending issues between the two countries can be addressed for the sake of their mutual benefits and national interests."

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"Yesterday, a North Korean ballistic missile flew south of the Northern Limit Line (an inter-Korean demarcation line) for the first time since the separation of the two Koreas, and the missile was (aimed) toward South Korea and Japan," Chung said. "Pyongyang is targeting both South Korea and Japan, and it is now inevitable to confront a nuclear-armed North Korea, increasing the necessity for Seoul-Tokyo economic and security cooperation."

Nukaga said that the two countries' leaders have agreed to maintain close bilateral relations for North Korea's complete denuclearization, and that the parliamentarians' union should also deliver strong messages.

Ruling People Power Party interim chief Chung Jin-suk, third from left, shakes hands with ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Fukushiro Nukaga, second from left, during the general assembly of Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union and Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union.

Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported that President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida may have a summit on the occasion of the two leaders' anticipated attendance to the 2022 ASEAN Summit in Cambodia from Nov. 12 to 13 and the 2022 G20 Summit in Indonesia from Nov. 15 to 16.

Citing unnamed Japanese government sources, the newspaper reported that the summit, which could be "the first official summit between them," will likely take place to improve their relations in the wake of North Korea's continued missile and nuclear threats.

Yoon and Kishida met twice this year on the occasion of international events. In September, Yoon and Kishida met for 30 minutes on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. South Korea has been saying that it was an "informal summit," but Japan has been calling it "casual conversation."

Seoul's presidential office is yet to announce whether Yoon will attend the international events, reportedly out of consideration for the national sentiment of mourning for the victims of the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy.

Government sources said that Yoon is likely to attend those meetings, but it is "very unpredictable whether we can have such a meeting on the sidelines of international events."

A summit between Yoon and Kishida is also a desirable event for Yoon, as he has been calling for a "future-oriented approach" toward Japan in addressing the bilateral relations and stressing the necessity for a trilateral security cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo to counter North Korea's continued nuclear and missile threats.

During a National Security Council meeting on Thursday, when North Korea fired at least three missiles including an intercontinental ballistic missile, Yoon ordered his administration to "strengthen the executive force of South Korea-U.S. extended deterrence and expand the South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation."