November 23, 1964

Excellency,
It is with great pleasure to extend to Your Excellency my personal and cordial greetings through Ambassador Dong Jo Kim who is returning to his post in Tokyo today.
I wish to express to Your Excellency my firm belief that it has been the uninterrupted desire of our two nations seeking the normalization of their relations at an earliest opportunity. I am convinced in this connection, that a visit to Korea by a highly distinguished statesman of Japan will immensely contribute towards achieving this common objective of ours.
With the foregoings in mind, I have the honour and privilege to extend to Your Excellency on behalf of my Government the most cordial invitation to visit my country. I sincerely hope that Your Excellency accept the invitation, and find it convenient to take the trip in the early January of next year, or, if not, at an earliest possible date thereafter.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Tong Won Lee

Minister

His Excellency
Etsusaburo Shiina
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Japan