Japanese PM Fumio Kishida welcomes South Korea's new president

The Japanese Prime said Thursday that he welcomed the election of the new South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol.

"I would like to congratulate him from the bottom of my heart," Fumio Kishida said. adding that he hoped to communicate closely with the new president to regain a healthy relationship as important neighbours. However, Kishida stressed that promises between countries must be kept.

Bilateral relations have been strained since South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to compensate Korean forced labourers.

Those rulings led to further tensions over trade when Japan placed export controls on chemicals vital to South Korea's semiconductor industry in 2019.