South Korean diplomatic records declassified Tuesday show the Japanese government told South Korea in 1989 it hoped to make the country the first overseas destination visited by then Emperor Akihito, after he ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne that year.
Japan is known to have considered a visit to South Korea by the former emperor as crown prince on multiple occasions, but the documents showed the government continued to pursue the plan after he rose to the throne, in January 1989, upon the death of his father Emperor Hirohito, who is posthumously known as Emperor Showa.
His first overseas visit during his reign was to Thailand in 1991. He abdicated in April 2019, as the first Japanese monarch to do so in about 200 years.