Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's departure from Seoul Air Base was met with criticism from the main opposition party, accusing President Yoon Suk Yeol of being too accommodating to Japan without securing an official apology or compensation for historical grievances. The Democratic Party of Korea pledged to revise rules to protect comfort women statues and demanded Japan's formal apology and compensation for past wrongdoings. The party criticized the Yoon administration for its perceived pro-Japan stance and lack of strong reaction to Japan's diplomatic efforts to remove comfort woman statues in other countries. The opposition's criticism came after a farewell summit between Yoon and Kishida, during which Kishida reiterated Japan's recognition of its past suffering inflicted on the South Korean people. The ruling People Power Party, however, described the summit as yielding practical achievements, including bilateral cooperation on evacuation plans and a simplified immigration process. The relationship between Seoul and Tokyo has been gradually improving, with multiple meetings between Yoon and Kishida and recent developments such as Japan's exclusion from funding South Korean forced labor victims' compensation and the addition of Sado Island Gold Mines to the UNESCO World Heritage site.