Japan-South Korea sign agreement to allow people to take short business trips amid COVID

Japan and South Korea have agreed to reopen their countries for foreign travel between both the nations starting October 8. According to news agency ANI, the countries have signed an agreement that states travellers on a short-term business trip will not be required to observe the mandatory 14-day quarantine if they provide a negative COVID-19 result upon arrival. The latest measure will only apply to people who intend to enter for a short-term business trip. 

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Foreigners and long-term planners will have to go through the regular 14 day isolation period before entering the country. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi during a press conference said that the move is to improve the bilateral relations between South Korea and Japan as it will help foster people to people ties between both the countries. Relations between Japan and South Korea have remained sour since the Second World War as the Japanese army committed several war crimes in the country. 

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Step to improve ties

The ties between both the nations were worsened after several South Koreans court-ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation for the war crimes that have been committed during the war, including forced labour and prostitution. In retaliation, Japan had tried to control the export of certain materials that go to South Korea for manufacturing purposes. 

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Talks between Japan and South Korea have been going on since July but after the new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga took over, he reportedly called Monn Jae-in to speed up the negotiations. The negotiations ended with both sides agreeing to allow business people, As per the report, over 3,00,000 South Koreans were business people, out of the 5.58 million people that visited Japan in 2019. 

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