Japanese Media: "No Sign of Improvement in Korea-Japan Relations"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Japanese media reported on the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting held on the 12th (local time), stating that "the three countries agreed to cooperate on security, but historical perception issues between Korea and Japan could become an obstacle."

NHK reported on the 14th regarding the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting, saying, "The foreign ministers of the three countries shared serious concerns about North Korea's successive ballistic missile launches and agreed to strengthen cooperation in the security sector to enhance deterrence."

However, referring to Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong's protest at the Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting held prior to the trilateral meeting against Japan's attempt to register Sado Mine, a forced labor site of Koreans during the Japanese colonial period, as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, it stated, "Differences in views between the two countries regarding forced labor remain, making it difficult to determine how to jointly respond to North Korea."

The Asahi Shimbun also diagnosed that the Sado Mine issue has become a new flashpoint between Korea and Japan, showing no signs of improvement in relations.

A Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, "During the approximately 40-minute Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting, North Korea was discussed at about 30%, and Korea-Japan relations at about 70%," indicating that bilateral relations were treated as more important than the North Korea issue.

The Asahi Shimbun reported that the two countries' claims clashed sharply over the Sado Mine issue during the Korea-Japan meeting. A Japanese government official stated, "(Sado Mine) has become a new flashpoint, and there is no sign of improvement in Korea-Japan relations."

The Nikkei Shimbun reported that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, aware of the deteriorated Korea-Japan confrontation, said, "We (Korea, the U.S., and Japan) need to learn how to do things as three parties that were natural as two parties."

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