Park Suhyun "Moon May Not Attend Tokyo Olympics... A Future-Oriented Roadmap Needed for Japan Visit"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Park Soo-hyun, the Blue House Chief of Communication, stated that President Moon Jae-in might not attend the Tokyo Olympics if prior consultations are insufficient.

On the afternoon of the 12th, Park appeared on MBN Baek Woon-gi's News Wide and responded to the host's question about whether President Moon might not go to Japan if prior consultations are inadequate by saying, "It implies such possibilities."

Park emphasized, "If the President visits Japan for the Olympics, a summit between South Korea and Japan must take place, and some level of achievement should come out of that summit."

He explained that the outcome of the summit refers to a "future-oriented roadmap." Park said, "If a summit between the two leaders occurs, a roadmap addressing the current issues between South Korea and Japan should be drafted. There should be some achievement that can be communicated to the public about how to resolve South Korea-Japan relations in a future-oriented manner or how both sides will work together moving forward."

He added, "Would a meeting that is just a friendly chat over tea with smiles give any hope to the public? A summit must be held, and if it is, I have requested (Japan) to ensure there are definite outcomes regarding current issues between the two countries as well as development plans."

However, Japan has yet to provide a clear response. Park said, "Around last weekend, diplomatic officials from both countries exchanged consultations, but Japan has not yet responded regarding the outcomes of the summit," and added, "Japan will likely need to clearly express a changed attitude within this week for the President to visit."

According to Japanese media, our side desires a summit lasting about an hour, while the Japanese side prefers a brief meeting of about 15 minutes. Regarding this, Park said, "The length of the summit is not the essence," and added, "Even if it is 15 minutes, if meaningful outcomes can be achieved, it is significant."

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