JAPAN-Yoon To Host Kishida In Seoul For Final Time 6-7 Sep

President Yoon Suk-yeol's office has confirmed that Japanese PM Fumio Kishida will visit Seoul for a two-day visit from 6-7 September. The visit will seemingly take a valedictory air for Kishida, who will step down as PM around the end of the month. A statement from Yoon's office said "Both sides will look back on the achievements of cooperation they have made through 11 rounds of summits and discuss the future direction of development of bilateral, regional and global cooperation,"

• Speaking in late August, Yoon said that he would seek to continue the development of good relations with Japan after the change of leadership in Tokyo. Yoon: "I would like to talk about maintaining cooperation and synergy for the future, regardless of which leader is in charge of state affairs,"
• While Kishida's three-year tenure in office has been marked by scandal within his governing Liberal Democratic Party, on the foreign policy front it is notable for a major improvement in relations with South Korea. This has come with significant influence from the US, with President Joe Biden convening the first trilateral summit at Camp David in 2023.
• Korea Times reports, "Korea's Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Tae-yul said in a recent media interview that Korea's trilateral cooperation with the U.S. and Japan will be maintained despite Kishida's stepping down and U.S. President Joe Biden's decision not to pursue reelection in November. Cho said discussions are ongoing to hold another trilateral summit among the three countries by the end of this year."