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President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea (left) shakes hands with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan ahead of their summit in Tokyo on March 16. (Yonhap)

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan will arrive in Korea on Sunday for a two-day visit. This will be the first visit to Korea by a sitting Japanese prime minister in 12 years, the last being Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who was invited to Korea by former President Lee Myung-bak in October 2011.

The South Korean presidential office announced the visit in a press release on Tuesday, writing that President Yoon Suk-yeol had extended an invitation to Seoul to Kishida during his visit to Japan in March, and that this visit by the Japanese prime minister would mark the resumption of shuttle diplomacy by the two heads of state in earnest.

Kishida’s visit to Korea will come just under 50 days after Yoon’s visit to Tokyo for a bilateral summit on March 16.

The Yongsan presidential office reported that Kishida’s wife, Yuko Kishida, plans to accompany him on the trip.

By Kim Mi-na, staff reporter

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