Japanese Prime Minister to visit Seoul for summit meeting on May 7

[YONHAP PHOTO]

SEOUL -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will be in Seoul for two days for a summit meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on May 7, the presidential office said. Kishida will be the first prime minister to visit South Korea since Yoshihiko Noda, a former Japanese prime Minister who visited Seoul in October 2011.

According to the presidential office on May 2, Kishida will visit Seoul with his wife Yuko Kishida for two days starting May 7. Yoon and Kishida will discuss the two countries' issues after having a summit meeting, Yoon's office said. The two leaders met through a summit meeting in Tokyo in March.

"President Yoon has invited Prime Minister Kishida to South Korea during a summit meeting in Japan in March and through Kishida's visit, the shuttle diplomacy between the two leaders will begin," the presidential office said. Shuttle diplomacy refers to diplomacy where leaders and high officials of two countries shuttle back and forth between countries to discuss and solve problems.

Japan's foreign ministry also confirmed the prime minister's visit to Seoul through a press release. Kishida will leave Haneda International Airport on May 7 and arrive in Seoul. The prime minister will take the same route when he returns home on May 8. It takes about two hours by flight between Seoul and Tokyo.

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Japanese Prime Minister to visit Seoul for summit meeting on May 7

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