By Hyonhee Shin
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba were scheduled to hold their first summit on Thursday in Laos, Yoon’s office said, as the neighbours seek to deepen security and economic ties.
The meeting, their first since Ishiba took office on Oct. 1, will take place on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in the capital of Laos Vientiane, Yoon’s office said in a statement, without elaborating.
It comes as Seoul looks to continue improving relations under Tokyo’s new leadership, building on the progress engineered by Yoon and Ishiba’s predecessor, Fumio Kishida.
Yoon and Ishiba, in their first phone call last week, agreed to forge a united response together with the United States to counter North Korea’s threats.
A former defence minister, Ishiba as prime minister has pledged to foster deeper ties with friendly nations to fend off what he considers to be the gravest security threats his country has faced since World War Two.
Yoon has pushed to mend relations with Tokyo and ramp up trilateral security cooperation involving Washington as a top diplomatic priority, putting years of historical animosity stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule behind.
The South Korean president and Kishida oversaw a newfound partnership after orchestrating an about-face in ties that had plummeted to their lowest level in decades before Yoon came to office, in part prodded by U.S. President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Ed Davies)
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