Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called on whoever succeeds him to further ensure the normalization of South Korea-Japan ties as next year marks the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties.

Kishida made the call during a news conference on Wednesday where he officially announced he will not seek re-election as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) next month.

As achievements reached during his three-year term, Kishida cited improvement in Seoul-Tokyo relations and the UNESCO World Heritage registration of Japan's Sado mines.

Shortly after assuming office in October 2021, Kishida had vowed to strongly urge South Korea to appropriately handle issues related to compensating victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor.  

However, his attitude changed after President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May 2022.

Seoul-Tokyo ties improved drastically after Yoon unveiled his administration's solution to compensation for forced labor victims in March of last year, with Kishida vowing earlier in January to further expand and deepen broad cooperation with South Korea based on his trust with Yoon.

Diplomats both in South Korea and Japan assess that Seoul-Tokyo relations will not worsen even if Kishida steps down.