"Yoon and Kishida Likely to Meet Face-to-Face for the First Time at June NATO Summit"

Low Possibility of a Korea-Japan Summit Meeting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] There is a possibility that President Yoon Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will meet face-to-face for the first time at the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit next month.

On the 12th, Japan's Mainichi Shimbun reported, "The South Korean and Japanese leaders are considering attending the NATO summit to be held in Madrid, Spain, from June 29 to 30."

In addition to NATO member countries, four non-member countries from the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, were also invited to this meeting. If both President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida attend, it could be the first face-to-face meeting between the South Korean and Japanese leaders.

However, Mainichi noted, "The Japanese government still maintains a cautious stance regarding a South Korea-Japan summit," adding, "According to the Prime Minister's office, even if the two leaders meet, it would likely be just a brief conversation while standing (at the venue)."

The last face-to-face summit between South Korea and Japan was held nearly two and a half years ago in December 2019, when then-President Moon Jae-in and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the trilateral summit among South Korea, China, and Japan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.