Kishida’s Seoul visit was a positive step — at least in the short term

On Sunday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held his second summit assembly with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in as many months.

Kishida’s profitable go to to Seoul, a constructive step ahead, a minimum of within the brief time period, might not have been doable with out the proper mixture of Seoul’s brave political initiative, Tokyo’s balanced diplomatic response and Washington’s quiet cheerleading.

But the response of the Japanese media was quite uncommon. In an editorial, the usually liberal, anti-authority Asahi Shimbun every day wrote, “Shuttle diplomacy is again on the observe (and) it must be on after 12 years. Though some have been cautious about his early go to to Seoul, Kishida himself expressed his willingness to reciprocate, and it was a sensible choice of his.”