South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday flew to Japan for a two-day official trip, the first by the country’s head of state since 2011, in an apparent warming up of bilateral ties between the two countries.

Yoon met with Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, in Tokyo, and the two will hold their first bilateral summit in four years.

The top-level exchange between the two Asian nations comes after years of bilateral conflicts rooted in wartime disputes that have impacted diplomatic, trade, and people-to-people ties.

The two leaders are expected to discuss North Korea, China, and supply chains, besides bilateral issues.

As Tokyo and Seoul appear to move past their differences, Pyongyang Thursday launched an intercontinental ballistic missile eastward, triggering condemnation from Seoul, Tokyo, and the US.

Ahead of his trip to Tokyo, Seoul decided to drop its demand for settlement with Japanese firms to solve the decades-long issue of war-time forced labor and sexual exploitation. Instead, a public foundation in Seoul will pay compensation to the victims.

Yoon has pledged to “faithfully implement the solution,” according to Tokyo-based Kyodo News.

As the two Asian nations move to mend ties, businesses from the two nations announced Thursday that they will “establish a foundation to promote exchanges between the youth of their respective countries.”

Tokyo has also agreed to end export controls on trade items with Seoul as South Korea will withdraw its complaint against Japan at World Trade Organization.

Tokyo and Seoul are also expected to resume a bilateral security dialogue, halted for the past five years.

“It is aimed at boosting cooperation at a time of repeated ballistic missile launches by North Korea,” Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

It was in 2019 that then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited Japan to attend a G-20 summit in Osaka.

However, no bilateral meeting was held by the two sides.

Meanwhile, as the US ramps up its efforts to widen its alliance at the military and trade levels against China’s expanding influence in the wider Asia-Pacific, Tokyo, Seoul and Washington have reportedly held over 40 trilateral meetings at different levels over the past year.

CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE