South Korea's Yoon thanks Japan's Kishida for his efforts to mend ties

FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a joint press conference after their meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on May 7, 2023. Jung Yeon-je/Pool via REUTERS

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Sunday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's words resonated with many South Koreans when earlier this month he said that "his heart hurts" for those who suffered from forced labour under Japan's colonial rule.

Yoon made the remark at a meeting with Kishida on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in Japan

World leaders from G7 and invited countries (top row L-R) Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Managing Director of the IMF Kristalina Georgieva, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, France's President Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol, (bottom row L-R) President of the World Bank David Malpass, secretary-general of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Comoros President Azali Assoumani, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala pose for a family photo of leaders of the G7 and invited countries during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima on May 20, 2023. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/Pool via REUTERS

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)