President Moon and Suga Hold First Phone Talk...Will It Unlock Korea-Japan Relations?

First Phone Call in 6 Months Since Former PM Abe... Pompeo, US Secretary of State, to Visit Korea Early Next Month, Expected to Meet President Moon

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Lim Cheol-young and Kim Dong-pyo] Japan's Kyodo News reported on the 24th that President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held their first telephone summit. The call between the South Korean and Japanese leaders came nine months after the call between President Moon and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in December last year. The news agency cited officials saying that Prime Minister Suga held a telephone summit with President Moon on that day.

There appears to have been no direct mention of the core issue in Korea-Japan relations?the forced labor victims during the Japanese colonial period and related judicial procedures?during this call. Prime Minister Suga has clearly stated his intention to continue Abe’s diplomatic policy line. Even before taking office, he declared that the Korea-Japan Claims Agreement is the foundation of Korea-Japan relations and that he would respond thoroughly to South Korea’s violations of international law. Considering this, it seems unlikely that a breakthrough to resolve the forced labor issue will be immediately achieved through the dialogue between President Moon and Prime Minister Suga.

However, by stepping back from sharply conflicting issues, both sides are expected to take the first step toward improving relations by opening channels of dialogue on matters such as quarantine and the Korean Peninsula. In particular, President Moon emphasized "multilateral cooperation" in his keynote speech at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on the 23rd and proposed the establishment of a Northeast Asia quarantine and health cooperation body including Japan. Since Japan has not given up on the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to COVID-19, there is considerable expectation that Japan may respond positively to this quarantine cooperation proposal. Additionally, Prime Minister Suga is expected to request South Korea’s cooperation on the abduction issue, which he has identified as his top diplomatic priority.

Meanwhile, with the U.S. presidential election one month away in November, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit South Korea in early October. This solo visit by Secretary Pompeo will be the first in two years since October 2018 and about three months after Deputy Secretary Steve Biegun’s visit to South Korea.

Multiple government officials explained, "Secretary Pompeo is scheduled to come to South Korea in early next month," adding, "The schedule to visit South Korea on the way to Japan is being coordinated with the South Korean government." It is reported that Secretary Pompeo’s visit to South Korea is likely to be a one-night, two-day trip starting on October 7, right after the Chuseok holiday.

During his visit, Secretary Pompeo is expected to emphasize the South Korea-U.S. alliance and convey the U.S. position amid escalating U.S.-China tensions.

In particular, there is a possibility that he will mention the expansion of the "Quad Plus," an extension of the four-party security dialogue "Quad" among the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India, targeting China. However, given the ongoing discussions about an "October Surprise" within the U.S., while there is some anticipation that Secretary Pompeo’s visit might lead to a surprise visit to North Korea, the general view is that the likelihood of this happening is very low.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.