Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) answers questions during a Upper House budget committee session at the parliament in Tokyo on March 6, 2023. Kishida is hoping to hold a summit meeting with his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol next week, the head of Japan's ruling coalition party Komeito said on March 7, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is hoping to hold a summit meeting with South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol next week, the head of Japan's ruling coalition party Komeito said on Tuesday.
"Prime Minister Kishida has indicated that he would like to hold a summit meeting with South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol as early as late next week," Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi told a news conference, adding that he hoped to see further progress in the thawing of relations between Tokyo and Seoul.
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South Korea announced on Monday that it would compensate former forced laborers through an existing public foundation funded by private companies, as it sought to end a dispute with Japan which has led to fraught relations between the countries.
Japan welcomed the move while some forced labor victims and South Korea's main opposition party condemned the plan.
Kyodo reported on Monday that Tokyo was floating March 16 and 17 as potential dates for Yoon's visit to Japan.