Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that he agreed during his talks with South Korean President Yoon Sok Yul today, Thursday, in Tokyo, to resume mutual visits between the leaders of the two Asian countries.

According to the Japanese "Kyodo" news agency, Kishida said during his meeting with Yoon, who is the first South Korean president to visit Japan in four years, that Tokyo is "happy to open a new chapter" in relations with Seoul.

Exchange visits between the leaders of Japan and South Korea were suspended for 12 years as bilateral relations deteriorated over many issues, including the issue of wartime forced labor.

Yoon's two-day visit to Tokyo with his wife, Kim Kyun-hee, comes after South Korea last week announced a proposal to settle a dispute over wartime forced labor with Japan, with Kishida seeking to gauge whether Seoul would implement the solution in a consistent manner.

Diplomatic sources said that in the face of North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, the two leaders are likely to agree to resume bilateral security talks involving officials from the two countries' foreign and defense ministries. Such talks were last held in 2018.

Earlier in the day, North Korea launched what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions that imposed economic sanctions on the country.

It is believed that the ballistic missile fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan. Before leaving for Tokyo, Yoon convened a meeting of South Korea's National Security Council, at which he said North Korea would pay the price for its reckless provocations.

Source: Middle East News Agency