After having rejected an earlier request for a meeting with envoys of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, South Korean President-elect Park Geun-hye has agreed to sit down with the Japanese delegation, her spokeswoman said Friday.
"President-elect Park will meet with a delegation of special envoys sent by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Jan. 4, 2013," Cho Yoon-sun said in an e-mailed press briefing. She did not mention who the representatives will be.
Shortly after the Dec. 19 presidential election, former Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, in his capacity as Abe's envoy, asked Park's ruling Saenuri Party for a meeting with the president-elect last weekend. He had reportedly wanted to deliver a letter seeking improved relations between the two countries.
Park turned down the request citing scheduling issues, according to party officials, but the move prompted speculation that the president-elect is cautious about meeting with representatives of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, which won the Dec. 16 parliamentary election after campaigning on a nationalist platform.
The neighboring nations have yet to come to terms with Japan's 1910-1945 forced occupation of the Korean Peninsula as South Koreans still harbor deep resentment toward Tokyo's brutal colonial rule.
Tensions peaked in August after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited the South's easternmost islets of Dokdo in an unprecedented move that angered Tokyo. Japan has repeatedly laid claim to Dokdo, a legacy of its colonial rule.
Park, who takes office in February, made clear in a news conference last month that Dokdo is not a subject for negotiation and urged Japan to "squarely face" the matter for their two countries' future.
"The meeting was arranged at the official request of (the Japanese government) during President-elect Park's meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Koro Bessho on Dec. 20," the spokeswoman said, adding that Park has sent a thank-you reply to Abe's congratulatory message sent following her election. (Yonhap)
"President-elect Park will meet with a delegation of special envoys sent by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Jan. 4, 2013," Cho Yoon-sun said in an e-mailed press briefing. She did not mention who the representatives will be.
Shortly after the Dec. 19 presidential election, former Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, in his capacity as Abe's envoy, asked Park's ruling Saenuri Party for a meeting with the president-elect last weekend. He had reportedly wanted to deliver a letter seeking improved relations between the two countries.
Park turned down the request citing scheduling issues, according to party officials, but the move prompted speculation that the president-elect is cautious about meeting with representatives of Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, which won the Dec. 16 parliamentary election after campaigning on a nationalist platform.
The neighboring nations have yet to come to terms with Japan's 1910-1945 forced occupation of the Korean Peninsula as South Koreans still harbor deep resentment toward Tokyo's brutal colonial rule.
Tensions peaked in August after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited the South's easternmost islets of Dokdo in an unprecedented move that angered Tokyo. Japan has repeatedly laid claim to Dokdo, a legacy of its colonial rule.
Park, who takes office in February, made clear in a news conference last month that Dokdo is not a subject for negotiation and urged Japan to "squarely face" the matter for their two countries' future.
"The meeting was arranged at the official request of (the Japanese government) during President-elect Park's meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Koro Bessho on Dec. 20," the spokeswoman said, adding that Park has sent a thank-you reply to Abe's congratulatory message sent following her election. (Yonhap)
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