On Wednesday, October 23, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, Lee Nak-yeon, visited Keio University's Mita Campus to hold a dialogue with students. He was welcomed with applause by the students at the East Hall, the venue for the event.
The dialogue between the prime minister and students was organized by the Center for Contemporary Korean Studies, Keio Institute of East Asian Studies, and was hosted by its director, Professor Junya Nishino of the Faculty of Law. Prime Minister Lee began with a greeting in which he spoke about how dialogue between South Korea and Japan had to date resolved issues whenever differences in views arose between the two nations, and that he hoped the current deteriorating relations between South Korea and Japan would also be resolved through dialogue. He also expressed his wish for broad-minded and sound thinking young individuals to build a relationship oriented to the future between South Korea and Japan.
Afterward, Prime Minster Lee encouraged the students to ask questions. In response to one query about what should be done to prevent the worsening relations between South Korea and Japan from affecting exchanges between their citizens, he shared his view that the current situation in which people of both countries feel ill at ease is undesirable, and that he wishes to support exchange between the young population of the two nations. The questions asked by the students were wide-ranging, including those about his impressions of Japan when he lived in the country as the Tokyo correspondent for the Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo, as well as the current fashion trends and food culture of South Korea. Prime Minister Lee graciously answered each of the questions asked.
Finally, before leaving Mita Campus, Prime Minister Lee stated that he hoped the students would develop an interest in a wide variety of matters and endeavor to see other countries as they are without prejudice.