"Dokdo, Historical Issues: Is a 'Korea-Japan Summit Meeting' Possible After 2 Years and 7 Months?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Attention is focused on whether South Korea and Japan can hold a summit meeting on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit scheduled to be held in Madrid, Spain, at the end of this month.

Due to differences in perceptions of past issues such as Dokdo, South Korea and Japan remain at a standstill, and the possibility of a South Korea-Japan summit is still uncertain, according to diplomatic circles.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol will attend the NATO summit held in Madrid, Spain, from the 29th to 30th as his first overseas visit.

This meeting includes countries invited for the first time such as South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, and Georgia.

As a result, there is speculation that the South Korean and Japanese leaders may hold a bilateral meeting on the occasion of attending this NATO summit.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

If the South Korea-Japan summit takes place, it will be the first bilateral meeting in 2 years and 7 months since then-President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the South Korea-China-Japan summit held in Chengdu, China, in December 2019.

The Blue House has not yet given a definite answer regarding the possibility of a South Korea-Japan summit. This is due to many variables, including domestic public opinion about Japan and political reasons within Japan.

Diplomatic experts believe that holding a South Korea-Japan summit is difficult due to past issues, and even if it takes place, it is unlikely to yield significant results.

Japan is demanding a change in South Korea’s stance on historical recognition before the South Korean and Japanese leaders meet. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated on the 11th (local time) that “The South Korea-Japan relationship will develop only if historical issues between the two countries are resolved quickly,” for this reason.

Prime Minister Kishida said, “I think it is necessary to develop the South Korea-Japan relationship built since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1965,” and “To do so, resolving pending issues between Japan and South Korea, including the labor issue, is urgent.”

The labor issue mentioned by Prime Minister Kishida refers to a series of judicial procedures such as forced asset sales based on the South Korean Supreme Court ruling that Japanese companies must pay compensation to victims forcibly mobilized during the Japanese colonial period.

When asked, “President Yoon Suk-yeol is showing a positive attitude toward dialogue with Prime Minister Kishida. How will you face each other going forward?” Prime Minister Kishida replied, “No specific meeting schedule has been decided.”

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