A senior Japanese foreign ministry official has visited South Korea to hold the first face-to-face director general-level talks between the two neighboring countries since the launch of the Yoshihide Suga administration.  

Shigeki Takizaki, chief of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, was met by reporters upon his arrival at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday afternoon and said he will discuss “various issues” with South Korea. 

When asked whether they include Japan's push to release radioactive water from its disabled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean and North Korean issues, he said every item they are supposed to discuss will be covered. 

Takizaki will sit down with his South Korean counterpart Kim Jung-han on Thursday. The two met in Seoul in February, before the COVID-19 epidemic broke out in both countries. They held video-linked talks in June due to coronavirus restrictions.

Among major agenda items they will likely touch on is Japan’s wartime forced labor issue and export curbs on South Korea. 

During his stay in Seoul, Takizaki, who doubles as Tokyo's top nuclear envoy, also plans to meet with South Korea's top nuclear negotiator Lee Do-hoon and is expected to discuss measures to prevent North Korean provocations ahead of the U.S. presidential election.