Unclear If PM Kishida Will Travel To South Korea Following Earthquake

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, when asked by reporters whether today's earthquake would impact PM Fumio Kishida's planned visit to South Korea on 7 May, said that the gov't 'will take appropriate actions as necessary'. At 1442JST (0142ET, 0642BST) a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the Ishikawa prefecture in the central region of the island of Honshu.

• Kishida previously stated that "If my South Korea visit is achieved ahead of the G-7 summit, I expect it will be a great opportunity to give impetus to our 'shuttle diplomacy' and have a heart-to-heart exchange of our views on accelerating Japan-South Korea ties and drastically changing the global situation,"
• The two nations are attempting to patch up relations (with strong backing from the US) in an effort to improve security cooperation in the region. However, long-standing wartime grievances as well as territorial disputes in the Sea of Japan and Korean concerns about environmental pollution from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which was put out of action in the 2011 tsunami.
• Kishida would be the first Japanese PM to visit South Korea since his late predecessor Shinzo Abe attended the opening of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games in 2018.