Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, arrive in Seoul on May 7 for talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. (Video footage by Narumi Ota)

Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, arrive in Seoul on May 7. (Takuya Isayama)

SEOUL--Japan’s prime minister flew to Seoul on May 7 in what marks the first resumption of mutual visits in 12 years by leaders of Japan and South Korea.

President Yoon Suk-yeol opened the talks by stating, “We must move away from the thinking that we will be unable to take any steps toward future cooperation unless the two nations put a total end to all issues of the past.”

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, referring to Yoon’s visit to Japan in March, said, “In less than two months, we have seen dynamic movement in various forms of dialogue.”

He added that he wanted to discuss cooperating on global issues as well as the latest developments in the Indo-Pacific region, including North Korea.

Officials said the two sides hope to build on the momentum to improve bilateral relations that in recent months has witnessed an uptick in joint meetings on national security as well as one this month by the finance ministers of the two nations.

The March visit by Yoon was made possible in large part by an announcement by Seoul that it would establish a foundation to shoulder the compensation burden of Japanese companies that had been sued by wartime Korean laborers.

However, there is still strong criticism in South Korea over the fact that Japan has never formally apologized specifically for its wartime use of Korean laborers.

Instead, Kishida has said that his administration stands by the views laid out in past statements by Japanese governments that have apologized for Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula that ended with the country’s 1945 defeat in World War II.

While Kishida is not expected to offer a new apology or statement, the hope among government officials is that improved ties in the fields of national security and business will help placate the criticism in South Korea by demonstrating the merits of a closer relationship.

“There will be considerable significance in having the prime minister point to the positive results of a future-oriented relationship,” said a high-ranking government official. “The message that he will bring is that we have to move away from the past.”

Sources said Kishida decided to visit South Korea because he had invited Yoon to attend the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima scheduled for later this month.

Kishida was keen to avoid the impression that only the South Korean president was doing the legwork. If Kishida had not visited South Korea beforehand, it would have been problematic for Yoon to visit Hiroshima.

Kishida was keen to hear directly from Yoon about his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington in late April, particularly details about improved defense cooperation between South Korea and the United States so that trilateral defense cooperation that includes Japan can be discussed on the sidelines of the G-7 summit.