President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on March 16 shake hands at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo. (Office of the President)

By Charles Audouin

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on May 7 will arrive in Seoul for a bilateral summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The Office of the President on May 2 said in a news release, "President Yoon used his visit to Japan in March as an opportunity to invite Prime Minister Kishida to visit Korea. Through this trip by Prime Minister Kishida, shuttle diplomacy between the two leaders will fully begin."

"Prime Minister Kishida will be the first Japanese leader to visit Korea for a bilateral summit since Yoshihiko Noda in October 2011."

The first lady Yuko Kishida will accompany her husband on his visit.

The Japanese leader will make a working-level overnight visit like President Yoon did in Japan from March 16-17.

Their summit is slated for May 7, the first day of the prime minister's visit.

He will also be the first Japanese leader to visit Korea in five years and three months since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in February 2018 for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

At a dinner on May 2 with leaders of the ruling party, President Yoon said, "(Prime Minister Kishida's visit to Korea) will mark the start of shuttle diplomacy," adding, "With the beginning of shuttle diplomacy as an opportunity, Korea-Japan relations must continuously be led toward development."

Shuttle diplomacy, or the practice of the leaders of both nations visiting each other's countries, began in July 2004 when then President Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held talks on Jeju Island, with both wearing short-sleeve shirts.

Such diplomacy stopped the following year after Prime Minister Koizumi resumed visiting the maligned Yasukuni Shrine but resumed in February 2008 between then President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

The visits ended yet again with President Lee going to Dokdo Island and Prime Minister Abe to the shrine. The last trip was in December 2011, when President Lee went to Kyoto.

caudouin@korea.kr