SEOUL – Less than a month before he leaves office, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida travels to South Korea on Friday to strengthen ties between the traditional Asian rivals, as challenges await their cooperation after he leaves office.

Kishida’s two-day trip was arranged after he “actively” expressed his hope to meet with conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to end his term on a positive note in bilateral relations, according to Yoon’s office. It said Yoon and Kishida will review their achievements in bilateral relations and discuss further cooperation during a meeting between the two leaders on Friday.

Experts say it shows the legacy Kishida wants to leave after three years in office. He is credited with strengthening Japan’s security and diplomatic partnerships with the United States, South Korea and other countries, but his popularity has been reduced at home due to political scandals involving his ruling party.

“Prime Minister Kishida has put his personal political capital on the line to improve relations with South Korea. Together with President Yoon, Kishida has strengthened bilateral diplomatic and security cooperation and elevated trilateralism with the United States” at a summit at Camp David in the United States last year, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

“This farewell summit in Seoul aims to consolidate this legacy,” he said.

Japan and South Korea are key U.S. allies in Asia, with nearly 80,000 U.S. troops. Their cooperation is crucial to U.S. efforts to strengthen regional alliances in response to China’s growing influence and the growing nuclear threat from North Korea. But Japan-South Korea relations have suffered periodic setbacks over grievances stemming from Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Bilateral relations began to ease significantly after Yoon took a controversial step in March 2023 to resolve long-standing pay issues for Koreans who were forced to work for Japanese companies during the colonial period. Kishida has subsequently expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers, though he has avoided issuing a new direct apology for colonization.

The two countries have since resumed high-level talks and withdrawn economic retaliation measures they imposed on each other during the forced labor dispute. But Yoon’s creation of a South Korean corporate fund to compensate forced labor victims without Japanese contributions sparked a backlash in South Korea, with liberal rivals accusing him of being subservient to Tokyo.

“If President Yoon is truly the president of the Republic of Korea, he must not let this visit become an opportunity to praise Kishida’s achievements,” said Han Min-soo, spokesman for the main opposition liberal Democratic Party. “Our people will no longer tolerate the Yoon Suk Yeol government harming national interests through subservient diplomacy toward Japan.”

Yoon said it was time to move beyond historical differences and seek better relations with Japan because of shared challenges, including the intensifying U.S.-China strategic rivalry, North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and supply chain vulnerabilities. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tuesday that Kishida’s trip would be an important opportunity for the two leaders to discuss deeper bilateral cooperation in an increasingly difficult strategic environment.

Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said Kishida’s trip suggests he wants to see the momentum toward improving relations continue, regardless of who Japan chooses to be its next prime minister.

No major announcements are expected after Yoon and Kishida meet Friday. South Korean media have focused on whether Kishida will make comments that could help Yoon deal with domestic criticism over his policy toward Japan.

“If Kishida offers a gesture of reconciliation on historical issues during his visit, it could generate goodwill that would be an asset to Japan’s next leader and would also help Yoon respond to domestic criticism of his cooperative approach to Tokyo,” said Easley, the professor.

Last month, Kishida announced he would not seek re-election, paving the way for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to choose a new standard-bearer in its leadership election on September 27. The winner of that election will replace Kishida as both party leader and prime minister.

Among the leading candidates is former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who regularly visits Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates the country’s estimated 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Japan’s neighbors view the shrine as a symbol of the country’s militaristic past.

“If Shinjiro Koizumi wins the election, he will likely maintain Kishida’s strategic foreign policy, especially toward South Korea. But whether he will continue to visit Yasukuni Shrine or not will be crucial,” Choi said. “Can South Korea accept a new Japanese prime minister visiting Yasukuni Shrine? I doubt it.”

Kishida refrained from visiting and praying at the shrine during his tenure as prime minister, preferring to send ritual offerings.

Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose harsh comments about Japan’s military ambitions could complicate relations with South Korea, Choi said.

Longer term, South Korea-Japan relations could see more significant changes if liberals in South Korea regain the country’s presidency after Yoon completes his single five-year term in 2027.