South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday he hopes to visit Japan soon for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, amid tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.
Moon received a letter from Abe when he met with Natsuo Yamaguchi — head of Komeito, the smaller partner in the ruling coalition with Abe's Liberal Democratic Party — on Thursday in Seoul.
Japan is aiming to host a trilateral summit with South Korea and China by the end of the year.
"I want to visit Japan as soon as possible," Moon said, according to Yamaguchi.
Moon and Yamaguchi exchanged views on the situation surrounding North Korea during their meeting at the South Korean president's office, Yamaguchi told reporters.
Yamaguchi will visit China from Nov. 30 after returning to Tokyo on Saturday.
Japan, China and South Korea have been rotating summit-hosting duties since 2008. The gatherings were not held in 2013 and 2014 in light of a territorial dispute between Japan and China.
The previous summit was held in South Korea in 2015. Japan was unable to host the meeting last year amid political turmoil in South Korea.
