S/ Kishida Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan / A memorandum has been signed, confirming that we will cooperate in protecting our respective nationals during emergency situations in third countries.

Kishida made the remarks after holding bilateral summit talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul on September 6.

The two leaders agreed to cooperate in evacuating their nationals in the event of contingencies in countries other than their own.

This is the first time for Japan to conclude a memorandum of this sort with another country.

Until now, Japan had to create a system for cooperation with countries in question to facilitate the evacuation of Japanese nationals each time an emergency occurred.

The memorandum will help smoothen coordination for actions such as securing methods for transporting nationals when evacuating them.

Kishida said the written communication is an example of heightened trust between Japan and South Korea.

This is expected to be Kishida's last summit meeting with Yoon as the Japanese leader is set to step down later in September.

Concerning the bilateral relationship that underwent major improvement during his premiership, Kishida said he and Yoon affirmed their policy to continuously strengthen the two countries' cooperation and exchanges.