Japan's departing Kishida sends signal to successor with South Korea summit

5/9/2024 16:03

        When Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a final summit this week with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, he will be sending a signal of support not only to the neighbouring nation, but his would-be successors as well.
        
        Prodded by U.S. President Joe Biden, the two leaders orchestrated an about-face in ties that had sunk to their lowest level in decades amid acrimonious diplomatic and trade disputes over Japan's occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
        
        But the strength of their new partnership is set to be tested by Kishida's imminent departure and the prospect of a shake-up in the White House with November's presidential election.
        
        "Prime Minister Kishida may have to show that what he did with President Yoon is the right direction and he expects whoever succeeds him to follow the current direction of the Japan-Korea relationship," said Tetsuo Kotani, a senior fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs.