S. Korean leader to travel to Japan for meeting on regional issues
S. Korean leader to travel to Japan for meeting on regional issues
Robert Besser
12 Mar 2023, 17:58 GMT+10
- At Tokyo’s invitation, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife will visit Japan on March 16-17
- This is the first such visit after Seoul announced a plan to end a protracted dispute with Japan over wartime forced labour
- South Korea said this week that its own businesses would compensate victims of forced labor under Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-1945
SEOUL, South Korea: At Tokyo’s invitation, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife will visit Japan on March 16-17.
This is the first such visit after Seoul announced a plan to end a protracted dispute with Japan over wartime forced labour.
South Korea said this week that its own businesses would compensate victims of forced labor under Japan’s colonial rule from 1910-1945, seeking to end a dispute that has undercut U.S.-led efforts to present a unified front against China and North Korea.
Yoon will hold a summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Yoon’s office said in a statement, calling it “an important milestone in the improvement and development of relations between South Korea and Japan.”
South Korea is an important neighbor with which Japan should cooperate in addressing various issues in the international community, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a briefing.
“I hope that through this visit to Japan, Japan-Korea relations will further develop based on the friendly and cooperative relations that have existed since the normalization of diplomatic relations,” added Matsuno.
Yoon said earlier this month that cooperation with the United States and Japan has become more important than ever due to North Korea’s growing nuclear threats and other crises.
Kishida will be able to claim South Korean support for Japan’s evolving defense posture and trilateral coordination with the United States to maintain a rules-based order in Asia, he added.
“Not all historic issues will be resolved, because between democracies reconciliation is a process, not an agreement,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul. “But the two leaders are determined to move cooperation forward on trade and security,” as quoted by Reuters.
Washington had pressed its allies in both countries to reconcile and called the latest announcements “groundbreaking,” but several of the victims have vowed to reject compensation, setting the stage for more political and legal battles.
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