President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) on March 16 shakes hands with Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke Takei upon arrival at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan. On the same day, the president held a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, resuming "shuttle diplomacy" between the two sides that had been suspended for 12 years.

President Yoon Suk Yeol (eighth from left) and First Lady Kim Keon Hee (ninth from left) on March 16 pose for a group photo with a student choir from Tokyo Korean School at a luncheon roundtable with ethnic Korean residents of Japan at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. In the first event of his visit, he thanked and gave the students words of encouragement, saying, "The community of ethnic Korean residents of Japan has been a strong supporter of our country whenever their homeland was in need, and its members contributed to raising Korea's status in Japan by actively working in their respective fields without losing their pride even under difficult conditions."

President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) on the afternoon of March 16 holds a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on their summit talks at the Prime Minister's Office of Japan in Tokyo. In his statement, President Yoon said close communication and meetings between our two governments have laid the foundation for our two countries’ earnest discussions on the direction of forward-looking progress. He also emphasized that the two leaders will maintain active communication and collaborate without the constraints of formalities.

President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the evening of March 16 give a toast at Rengatei, a Western-style restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district. The two leaders moved to this venue after having dinner with their spouses at Yoshizawa, a famed sukiyaki (Japanese hot pot) restaurant, to chat over beer, soju (traditional Korean alcohol) and omurice (Japanese omelet rice).

First Lady Kim Keon Hee (left) on March 16 makes traditional Japanese sweets with her Japanese counterpart Yuko Kishida at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo. Receiving an invitation to make the desserts, the Korean first lady presented traditional Korean confectionary, hangwa, as a gift and said, "Like how we shared our hearts today, I expect the people of our countries to interact more closely as well," thanking Japan's first lady for her hospitality and inviting her to Korea.

President Yoon Suk Yeol (middle) on the afternoon of March 17 speaks at the Korea-Japan Business Roundtable held at the Japan Business Foundation in Tokyo. He was the first incumbent Korean leader since 2009 to attend the event featuring business leaders from both countries, according to the presidential office in Seoul. "To address the current polycrisis confronting the entire world, solidarity and cooperation among the countries that share universal values are more important than ever before," he said. "Our two countries will cooperate and jointly respond to a wide range of global agendas such as supply chains issues, climate change, advanced science and technology as well as economic security."

First Lady Kim Keon Hee on March 17 takes a photo with students at Tokyo Korean School in the city's Shinjuku district. "Politics has borders but not culture and education," she said. "I ask you, as symbols of exchanges between both countries, to play the role of a bridge to further strengthen bilateral relations."

President Yoon Suk Yeol (second from left) on March 17 shakes hands with Yoshihide Suga, the former prime minister of Japan and now the incoming head of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians Union. The president also met leading figures from Korean-Japanese friendship groups like outgoing union chief Fukushiro Nukaga and Taro Aso, another former Japanese prime minister and now chair of a Japan-Korea committee, and exchanged constructive opinions on the direction of improving bilateral ties.

President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) on March 17 gives a lecture on future generations of Korea and Japan at Keio University in Tokyo. Speaking to hundreds of students on a topic targeting those from both countries, he said, "Future generations, including all of you, represent the future of Korea and Japan," adding, "It is my sincere hope that all of you think deeply about your future and actively engage with young Koreans." His speech was the final event of his visit and he flew back to Korea on the same day.

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