After Over 50 Days, Korea-Japan Summit Meeting... Likely to Reaffirm Economic and Security Cooperation Instead of 'Apology'

Presidential Office: "A Time to Strengthen Willingness to Cooperate Rather Than Coordinate Sharp Agendas"
Expanded Discussions in Economy and Security Sectors... Working-Level and Departmental Meetings Already Underway

The Korea-Japan summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to take place on the 7th. This meeting, coming about 50 days after the Tokyo summit in March, is expected to reaffirm the importance of improving bilateral relations and to solidify the trilateral cooperation framework among South Korea, the United States, and Japan in response to North Korean threats. However, considering the numerous unresolved issues between the two countries, including forced labor, territorial claims over Dokdo, history textbooks, and Fukushima contaminated water, it is unlikely that Prime Minister Kishida will readily mention apologies or reflections.

On the 3rd, a presidential office official stated, "Prime Minister Kishida's visit to Korea this time is similar in format and duration to President Yoon's visit in March, so rather than dealing with detailed agendas, it will focus on confirming the willingness to cooperate in economic and security dimensions." As this symbolizes the full-scale operation of shuttle diplomacy between the Korea-Japan leaders, the summit is expected to place more emphasis on reaffirming the will to cooperate rather than coordinating on contentious issues.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the economic front, cooperation on economic security, such as semiconductor supply chains, is expected to be discussed. Recently, Japan re-designated South Korea as a Group A country (formerly the White Country/Whitelist), which is subject to preferential export treatment. Since most factors causing export regulations and trade conflicts between Japan and South Korea have been resolved, detailed discussions on cooperation areas are expected to proceed in earnest.

In addition to advanced industries like semiconductors and batteries, new industries such as quantum, space, and bio sectors, joint entry into the global order market, and future responses to issues like low birth rates, aging populations, and climate change will also be discussed as areas where mutual benefits can be created. Additional discussions may include increasing flights, expanding exchanges of future generations such as high school and international students to restore human exchanges between the two countries, and restoring and expanding dialogue channels at both private and government levels.

Joint responses to North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile threats are considered a priority agenda item. South Korea, the United States, and Japan plan to hold a trilateral meeting during the G7 summit in Hiroshima in mid-June to expand trilateral cooperation focused on security, with a shared understanding that normalization of Korea-Japan relations must precede this. The United States, the largest ally of both South Korea and Japan, also regards strengthening the trilateral relationship among South Korea, the United States, and Japan as the top condition for peace in Northeast Asia.

Prior to the summit, working-level and departmental discussions have already begun. The Korea-Japan finance ministers' meeting was held the day before for the first time in seven years, and on the same day, Cho Tae-yong, Director of the National Security Office, held a Korea-Japan security chiefs meeting and an NSC economic security dialogue in Seoul with Takeo Akiba, Director of Japan's National Security Secretariat. This is the first visit by a Japanese National Security Secretariat director since Shotaro Yachi in 2014.

However, it appears unlikely that Prime Minister Kishida will deliver a message of reflection sufficient to soothe South Korean public opinion regarding forced labor and comfort women during this visit. Instead, he may reiterate the "succession of apologies by previous cabinets." This is intended to convey a willingness to support solutions related to forced labor compensation issues while the South Korean government hopes for a "sincere response" from Japan.

The many contentious issues between the two countries remain a variable. The Japanese government believes that if it issues an apology or reflection message first, it will lose ground on issues such as Fukushima contaminated water, territorial claims over Dokdo, and history textbooks. On the same day, Kyodo News also reported, citing Korea-Japan diplomatic sources, that Prime Minister Kishida plans to express his position of inheriting the historical recognition of past cabinets by referring to the 1998 Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Declaration, which explicitly stated "deep remorse and apology" for colonial rule.

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