Prime Minister Kishida is considering the possibility of visiting South Korea on the 20th of next month and meeting with President Yoon Sung-nyeol, and plans to make a decision after carefully assessing the situation, including parliamentary deliberations.
Following an agreement reached at the Japan-South Korea summit meeting in March last year, mutual exchanges between the two leaders, known as "shuttle diplomacy," have resumed after being suspended for more than 10 years.
According to government officials, as part of this effort, Prime Minister Kishida is considering visiting South Korea on the 20th of next month and holding a summit meeting with President Yoon.
If the visit is realized, it will be the first since May last year, and I hope to further solidify the trend of improving Japan-South Korea relations, including strengthening cooperation on the security front in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile issues.
Meanwhile, on the 20th of next month, the opening game of the Dodgers, a major league baseball team to which Shohei Otani belongs, is scheduled to take place locally, and there is a plan for the two leaders to watch the game together.
However, deliberations on the new budget bill for the new fiscal year are coming to a close in the National Assembly next month, and there are negative opinions on the Korean side regarding the talks in consideration of the impact on the general election to be held in April, so the Japanese government is cautious. Our policy is to assess the situation and make a decision.