Japan PM Kishida arranging S Korea trip in early May

SEOUL: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida could make his first visit to South Korea since taking office in early May to hold a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese media reported on Sunday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun cited multiple diplomatic sources saying Kishida's visit could take place on May 7 or 8 to reciprocate Yoon's visit to Tokyo in March. If realised, the trip will mark Kishida's first to South Korea since taking office, Yonhap news agency reported.

Several other newspapers also carried similar reports.

The last visit by a Japanese prime minister to South Korea was made by Shinzo Abe in February 2018.

Yoon held a summit with Kishida in Tokyo in March in the wake of his government's decision to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without contributions from Japanese firms.

Yoon was the first South Korean president in 12 years to make a bilateral visit to Japan, as the two countries' relations had been strained over a series of historical disputes stemming from Tokyo's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The two leaders agreed during their summit to resume shuttle diplomacy, or regular visits to each other's countries.