French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Japan from March 31 to April 2 and then South Korea, Tokyo and Seoul said on Friday.
¡°We have agreed to receive President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic and Mrs. Macron as official working visit guests from March 31 to April 2,¡± Japanese government spokesman Minoru Kihara said.
¡°Japan and France are special partners that share fundamental values and principles, and we hope that President Macron¡¯s visit to Japan on this occasion will further deepen the bonds of friendship and cooperation between our two countries,¡± Kihara told reporters.
Macron, who has visited Japan several times, will hold talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The two already held bilateral talks at a Group of 20 meeting in South Africa last year.
The French couple will also meet the emperor and empress, Kihara added.
Macron¡¯s visit comes as China-Japan ties worsen following Takaichi¡¯s suggestion in November that Tokyo might intervene militarily in any Chinese attempt to take Taiwan.
Macron visited China in December.
South Korea said that Macron¡¯s state visit to South Korea will be from April 2 to April 3 at the invitation of President Lee Jae Myung.
¡°Macron will be the first European leader to make a state visit to South Korea since the launch of (our) new administration,¡± the South Korean presidential office said.
¡°It will also mark his first visit to the country since taking office in 2017, and the first visit by a French president in 11 years,¡± the statement added.
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