President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a summit on Friday in Seoul, to discuss ways to maintain the momentum of their improved bilateral ties even after Kishida steps down later this month.

During the summit that took place weeks ahead of the Japanese premier’s planned resignation, Yoon stressed the significance of continuing the current momentum for improving  Seoul-Tokyo ties. 

Kishida told Yoon that he feels great sorrow that many Koreans suffered hardship and sadness in the past, reiterating his previous remarks issued last May in a news conference after a South Korea-Japan summit.

While stressing that close Seoul-Tokyo cooperation is key for peace and stability in the region, the Japanese prime minister expressed his support for establishing peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula through Yoon's new unification doctrine.

The two leaders also agreed to work together to prevent North Korea from acting upon its improved relations with Russia and staging further provocations.
 
South Korea and Japan also agreed to boost their emergency cooperation to jointly evacuate their citizens in the event of contingencies in third countries.
 
Following the summit, the two sides' top diplomats signed a memorandum of understanding(MOU), under which the two nations will establish a system for evacuating their citizens using each other’s transportation assets.
 
The two sides also agreed to simplify their immigration procedures for each other's nationals.

Friday’s meeting marked the 12th and the last summit between Yoon and Kishida.