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Japan invites Yoon to upcoming G-7 summit: report

March 20, 2023

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida invited South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to a G-7 summit to be held in Hiroshima in May, a news report said Monday.

According to Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, Kishida told reporters he invited leaders of South Korea, Brazil, India, Vietnam and four other countries to the upcoming G-7 summit during his ongoing visit to India.

Japan has the authority to invite countries to the G-7 summit this year as the host nation.

The report came less than a week after Yoon and Kishida held a bilateral summit in Tokyo, signaling a significant warming of long-strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo.

Ahead of the summit, Seoul announced a solution to the long-running dispute over compensation for Koreans forced into hard labor for Japanese companies when Korea was under Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-45.

Last week, Yoon said in an interview with Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun that the G-7 summit will give South Korea an opportunity to establish “strong solidarity and cooperation with countries that share universal values mainly in security, economy and trade.”

President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida toast at a restaurant after their summit in Tokyo on March 16, 2023. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida toast at a restaurant after their summit in Tokyo on March 16, 2023. (Yonhap)