Japan's agriculture minister Koizumi to visit S. Korea this week: Seoul

SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Japanese Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi will visit South Korea later this week for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting and a bilateral meeting between South Korea and Japan, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Koizumi will make a three-day trip starting Saturday and plans to meet with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Monday, the ministry said.

It is considered rare for a foreign minister to meet with the head of a different ministry of another country when there are no pressing issues.

Koizumi, the son of former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has emerged as a strong potential candidate to succeed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who has seen his support erode since the Liberal Democratic Party's defeat in last month's upper house election.

Koizumi's visit comes as the Lee Jae Myung government has signaled its intent to maintain the positive momentum in bilateral relations with Japan.

After taking office last month, Cho chose to visit Japan in his first overseas trip as the top diplomat, a move seen as unconventional as most of his predecessors had prioritized visiting the United States.

"We are seeking to have various high-level exchanges to establish more solid and mature Korea-Japan relations, and the upcoming meeting (between Cho and Koizumi) is part of these efforts," a foreign ministry official said.

The Seoul-Tokyo ties have dramatically improved under the initiative of the former Yoon Suk Yeol administration, resuming brisk high-level diplomacy, including at the leaders' level.

elly@yna.co.kr
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