Iran Press/ Asia: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits Seoul on Sunday to meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, facing a sceptical public there as the leaders seek deeper ties amid nuclear threats from North Korea and China’s increasing assertiveness.
Kishida’s bilateral visit, the first by a Japanese leader to Seoul in 12 years, returns the trip Yoon made to Tokyo in March, where they sought to close a chapter on the historical disputes that have dominated Japan-South Korea relations for years.
Yoon is facing criticism at home that he has given more than he's received in his efforts to improve relations with Japan, including by proposing that South Korean businesses - not Japanese companies as ordered by a court - compensate victims of wartime labour during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial occupation.
South Korean officials are hopeful that Kishida will make some kind of gesture in return and offer some political support, although few observers expect any further formal apology for historical wrongs. Yoon himself has signalled he doesn't believe that is necessary. 219
