| President Yun Seok-yeol (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. © News1 Designer Choi Soo-ah |
The ‘Sky Road’ between Gimpo and Haneda International Airport in Japan, which was blocked due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) epidemic, will reopen after two years and three months.
In particular, the 29th, the date of resumption of flights between Gimpo and Haneda, is of interest in that it is the opening day of the NATO summit where the possibility of an ‘encounter’ between President Yun Seok-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is predicted. are collecting
Through this, it is expected that the momentum of ‘improving Korea-Japan relations’, which both leaders agree on, will be able to continue.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Gimpo-Haneda route has reached an agreement between Korea and Japan that Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, and Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways operate eight flights twice a week, for a total of eight flights. Prior to this, both sides resumed issuance of short-term tourist visas this month, which had been suspended in April 2020.
Experts believe that such a movement to promote people-to-people exchanges between Korea and Japan will have a positive effect on improving bilateral relations to some extent. This is because, if President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida meet during the NATO summit as an opportunity, they can talk to each other even if they do not touch on issues of conflict such as the past between Korea and Japan.
President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida will attend the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, from the 29th to the 30th. For this reason, the possibility of holding a Korea-Japan summit as an opportunity for the NATO summit has been raised.
However, at present, there are many prospects that even if the leaders of South Korea and Japan meet during the NATO meeting as an opportunity, it will be to the extent of exchanging greetings or chatting for a while rather than a formal meeting.
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| Gimpo Airport International Terminal. 2022.6.22/News 1 © News1 Reporter Lim Se-young |
Or it is highly likely that they will sit together in multilateral talks such as the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, which is expected to be held with this NATO summit as an opportunity, or the summit between four non-NATO countries, Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, proposed by Japan. also comes out
This is also related to the Japanese House of Councilors (Senate) elections scheduled for the 10th of next month. “In Japan, there is concern that Prime Minister Kishida’s summit with President Yun may provoke opposition from conservative supporters in Japan,” the source said, citing the continuing conflict over historical issues between South Korea and Japan, such as the issue of compensation for victims of forced mobilization during the Japanese colonial period. There is,” he said.
According to a source, some members of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party) in Japan initially expressed negative opinions about Prime Minister Kisida’s participation in the NATO summit, citing ‘the election is imminent’.
However, as a result of a recent opinion poll by Japanese media outlets, the Liberal Democratic Party is expected to win this election as well, with support for the Kishida cabinet reaching 60%.
The source pointed out, “From our point of view, we should be wary of the possibility that the summit will be used for domestic politics.”
In response, Cho Jin-goo, director of the Japan Center for Far Eastern Studies at Kyungnam University, said, “Like President Yoon, Prime Minister Kishida has a strong will to improve relations between Korea and Japan. .
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to establish a public-private joint organization in the near future with the participation of bureaucrats, scholars, and researchers to seek a solution for compensation for victims of forced labor.
ntiger@news1.kr
