Officials said a delegation of foreign policy advisers to South Korea’s president-elect met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday in an effort to restore long-strained ties between the two US allies.

At a time when both countries confront dangers from North Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, who takes over as South Korea’s president on May 10, has announced his goal to repair relations with Japan, which have been plagued by conflicts arising from Japan’s colonialism of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Japan is likewise eager to strengthen ties, and Kishida stated during the meeting that strategic cooperation between Japan, South Korea, and the United States is now more important than ever.

“There is no time to waste in improving Japan-South Korea relations,” the Japanese foreign minister said.

Chung Jin-suk, the chairman of the South Korean delegation, told reporters that he and Kishida had agreed to work toward forward-looking ties and common interests.

The seven-member South Korean delegation landed in Japan on Sunday for a five-day tour, prompting speculation in the South Korean media that Kishida would attend Yoon’s inauguration.

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