Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has emphasized to a visiting South Korean delegation that now is the time to improve bilateral ties and resolve outstanding issues.

Kishida met with the delegation sent by South Korea's President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol in Tokyo on Tuesday. The group is headed by South Korea's National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chung Jin-suk.

Apparently referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and North Korea's nuclear and missile development, Kishida said global order based on rules is now under threat. He pointed out that there has never been a time when strategic cooperation between their two countries, and between them and the United States, has been more necessary. He stressed that there is no time to waste in improving bilateral ties.
Kishida said bilateral ties should be developed based on the friendly and cooperative relations that have been built since their two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1965.

He said wartime labor and other pending problems must be resolved.

The delegation members responded that they place importance on bilateral relations and hope to cooperate to improve ties.

Government sources said the delegation handed Kishida a letter from Yoon.

The group then met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu. Matsuno said bilateral ties are severely strained and expressed hope that they would improve under Yoon's leadership.

The two sides confirmed that they would work closely together to respond to North Korea.

The delegation members indicated that they would cooperate in quickly resolving North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals.