Korea-Japan Governments Maintain Stance on Historical Issues, 'Improving Bilateral Relations' Task for Next Administration

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Although the top diplomats of South Korea and Japan had their first meeting, both sides still maintained their existing positions, leading to forecasts that Korea-Japan relations will further cool down.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to diplomatic circles on the 26th, at the recent G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting held in Liverpool, UK, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa briefly met and reaffirmed their existing differences over historical issues such as forced labor. Although it was not an official meeting, it was the first time since Hayashi took office that the foreign ministers of Korea and Japan met and held talks.

Minister Chung maintained the existing position on historical issues. He clearly conveyed the South Korean government's stance on past issues including forced labor and the Japanese military's comfort women victims, and emphasized that since there are many areas for cooperation, these should be resolved through dialogue.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Foreign Minister Hayashi also reiterated Japan's existing position. Japan claims that the issues of forced labor and comfort women were resolved by the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Agreement and the 2015 comfort women agreement. Accordingly, Japan views the South Korean Supreme Court's compensation rulings as violations of international law.

At this meeting, Foreign Minister Hayashi explained Japan's position on bilateral issues such as forced labor and comfort women, and requested appropriate responses from the South Korean side.

However, both Korea and Japan recognize the importance of trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan regarding North Korea's denuclearization. Both sides have reached a consensus on the necessity of trilateral cooperation and long-term communication concerning North Korean issues.

Diplomatic circles view the improvement of Korea-Japan relations as one of the biggest diplomatic tasks for the next government after next year's presidential election. They emphasize the need for further consultations and communication between diplomatic authorities to reaffirm the importance of cooperation between Korea, Japan, and the U.S. on North Korea issues and to restore Korea-Japan relations to a healthy state.

An expert in diplomatic circles said, "Improving Korea-Japan relations has already become difficult under the current administration," and added, "The next government faces the challenge of resolving North Korea issues and improving Korea-Japan relations through trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan."

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