Japanese Media: "Moon Jae-in's Japan Visit Cancellation Clearly Highlights the Chilly South Korea-Japan Relations"

Park Su-hyun, Chief of Public Communication, is briefing on Korea-Japan issues on the afternoon of the 19th at the Blue House Chunuchu-gwan Large Briefing Room.

Japanese media have interpreted the cancellation of President Moon Jae-in's visit to Japan as a reflection of the currently chilly state of South Korea-Japan relations.

On the 19th, Kyodo News reported that the relationship between the two countries, which has been strained over issues such as forced labor during the Japanese colonial period and the comfort women issue, "has become even more clearly cold."

The Korean side explained that holding a summit capable of producing results on pending issues was a prerequisite for President Moon's visit to Japan, but Kyodo reported that it was judged to be difficult to realize.

Furthermore, Kyodo analyzed that public criticism over inappropriate remarks made by Hirohisa Soma, the Charg? d'Affaires at the Embassy of Japan in South Korea, also seemed to have influenced this decision.

The Sankei Shimbun predicted that the stalemate in the deteriorated South Korea-Japan relations would continue.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported the Blue House's announcement in a brief format.

This newspaper had reported in its morning edition on the 19th that the governments of South Korea and Japan had agreed to hold a summit during the Tokyo Olympics, even specifying the meeting location, but this ultimately turned out to be a false report. Yomiuri did not immediately respond to this matter.

Meanwhile, Park Soo-hyun, Senior Secretary for Public Communication at the Blue House, stated at a briefing that President Moon had decided not to visit Japan during this Olympics. Although consultations with Japan were held with the possibility of holding a South Korea-Japan summit during the Tokyo Olympics in mind, Park explained that the summit was still insufficient to be considered a successful outcome, and the decision was made after comprehensively considering other related circumstances.

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