May 11 & 12, 2022

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Kasai Akira attended talks held on May 11 between new South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and the Japan-South Korea Parliamentarians' Union at the new presidential office in Seoul.

Kasai was visiting South Korea as a member of the delegation of Japanese lawmakers to be present for the previous day's inauguration ceremony of the 20th president of the Republic of Korea.

In the talks, Yoon appreciated the Japanese delegates taking part in his inauguration ceremony and stressed the need to promptly repair damaged Japan-ROK relations. He said that he will inherit and develop the Seoul-Tokyo Partnership Declaration signed in 1998 by the then President Kim Dae-jung with Japan's Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo at that time. He said that the Declaration calls for future-minded bilateral cooperation and he expressed his hope that a new horizon will be opened for deepening ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Prior to the talks, the Japanese delegation made a courtesy visit to National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug in the National Assembly Building.

Park said he hopes that bilateral relations will develop in a future-oriented way while learning lessons from history. He added that political leaders and politicians of both countries should make more serious efforts and make bold decisions to settle pending issues lying between the two countries.

Kasai said, "I feel that it is more important now than ever to mend Japan-ROK relations and to develop friendship between the Japanese and South Korean peoples. We, Japanese and South Korean legislators, can play a significant role in this effort. We should commit ourself to bringing about a successful end based on the spirit of the 1998 Tokyo-Seoul Partnership Declaration."