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A delegation for policy consultation sent by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to Japan sits down with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa to discuss bilateral relations on April 25. (provided by the Embassy of Korea in Japan)

On Monday, a Korean delegation sent by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in Japan and met with the Japanese foreign minister to discuss the overall state of relations between the two countries. The delegation is scheduled to hold meetings with various other high-level Japanese government figures in the coming days.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori met with the Korean delegation and discussed the direction of the incoming administration’s policy toward Japan as well as responses to North Korea, among other issues. Their meeting lasted about 15 minutes.

The ministry also said on Monday that Hayashi and the Korean delegation would hold a dinner that night to further advance dialogue.

After meeting with Hayashi, lawmaker and the head of the delegation Chung Jin-suk told reporters, “As good neighbors that share the value of liberal democracy and the market economy, [we] agreed to closely maintain and strengthen bilateral relations.”

Chung said that it would be difficult for South Korea and Japan to solve their major issues with only one-sided efforts, urging the two governments to “make diplomatic efforts by taking advantage of the new momentum.” He also said that this visit was not meant for any “concrete negotiations” on serious pending issues, but was instead meant to fully lay out Yoon’s basic diplomatic policy toward Japan.

Prior to the meeting with Japan’s top diplomat, the delegation had a breakfast meeting with the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo on Monday morning.

The delegation also met with Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi in the afternoon. The two sides were expected to exchange opinions on a wide variety of issues, ranging from export restrictions to the North Korea problem.

A meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had previously been expected to take place Wednesday, but was pushed up to Tuesday morning.

Yoon, who sent a letter to Kishida with the delegation, is hoping to improve bilateral relations under his incoming administration. The delegation he sent consists of seven experts, including Chung. The Korean delegation is scheduled to hold more meetings with the Foreign Ministry, lawmakers, business, media, and academic figures before returning home on Thursday.

By Kim So-youn, Tokyo correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]