Ldp Vice President Aso To Meet With S.korean President Yoon
The vice president of Japan's main ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Aso Taro, has traveled to South Korea to meet with the country's top government officials and business leaders.
Aso is a former Japanese prime minister. He currently heads a committee on bilateral cooperation that is comprised of Japanese and South Korean politicians and businesspeople.
Aso left Tokyo on Wednesday for his two-day trip to Seoul.
He is scheduled to meet South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Foreign Minister Park Jin during his stay.
They are expected to discuss pending bilateral matters, such as the wartime labor issue. It is also likely that the two will talk about North Korea and the situation in East Asia.
Aso spoke with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio for about two hours last Saturday.
Observers say the aim of the visit is to see whether South Korea is interested in holding a bilateral summit.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu told reporters on Wednesday that Aso is not visiting South Korea as a special envoy of Kishida. He also said that Aso does not plan to pass along a letter from the prime minister.