Possibility of Korea-Japan Summit Lowers Due to Dokdo Issue Clash Between Governments

[Asia Economy Reporters Inho Yoo and Jieun Lee] As the governments of South Korea and Japan clash again over past issues such as Dokdo, prospects are dimming for a South Korea-Japan summit to be held during this month’s Group of Seven (G7) summit.

Although a face-to-face meeting between the two leaders mediated by the United States was considered likely, both the Japanese side and the South Korean government have found it difficult to justify holding the summit due to contentious issues like Dokdo and mutual government criticisms.

According to diplomatic sources on the 2nd, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are reportedly coordinating to hold a trilateral South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit in conjunction with the G7 summit scheduled from the 11th to the 13th in the United Kingdom.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In this regard, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun cited government officials saying that coordination for a trilateral summit led by the United States is underway.

Yomiuri predicted that if the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit takes place, the three leaders will confirm cooperation policies regarding North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues, with President Biden expected to explain the details of his North Korea policy and seek coordination among the leaders.

If realized, it would be the first South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit in about three years and nine months since September 2017.

However, whether a South Korea-Japan summit will be held alongside the trilateral summit remains uncertain.

Momentum from the South Korea-U.S. summit held in the United States on the 21st of last month (local time) had raised the possibility of both the trilateral and South Korea-Japan summits, but recent entanglements over issues such as Dokdo have lowered the likelihood, according to diplomatic circles.

Yomiuri also reported that it is unclear whether a South Korea-Japan summit will be held during the G7 meeting, and that the Japanese side is taking a cautious stance.

In fact, the South Korean and Japanese governments have been engaged in sharp exchanges, publicly criticizing each other day after day.

On the afternoon of the previous day, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs unusually summoned Hirohisa Soma, the Charg? d’Affaires at the Embassy of Japan in South Korea, to protest Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi’s remarks and the depiction of Dokdo on the Tokyo Olympics website map.

Earlier, Japan had marked a small dot on the nationwide map introducing the torch relay course on the Tokyo Olympics website, placing it above Shimane Prefecture at the location corresponding to Dokdo, thereby implying that Dokdo is Japanese territory.

On the 31st of last month, at the House of Councillors’ Budget Committee, Foreign Minister Motegi criticized the Moon Jae-in administration’s response to the South Korea-Japan comfort women agreement, saying, “Situations where the ‘goalposts’ are moved by South Korea are constantly occurring.”

He also expressed agreement with the forced claim by LDP lawmaker Haruko Arimura that comfort women were essentially ‘comfort stations’ during the Korean War.

In response, diplomatic experts expressed concerns that improving South Korea-Japan relations through a meeting between the two leaders after the G7 South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit would be difficult. Even if a South Korea-Japan summit is held, they expect it to be a formal meeting without substantive benefits.

Professor Kim Hyun-wook of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy said, “Realistically, it is difficult for a South Korea-Japan summit to be established, and even if it happens, it will be at best an appendix to the South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit. Although the South Korean government has changed its stance, the Suga administration, whose approval ratings are declining, maintains a high-handed attitude, making it hard to improve South Korea-Japan relations.”

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