By Kang Seung-woo, Kim Tae-gyu
The United States is urging Korea and Japan to improve their thorny ties, but their chilly relations are unlikely to thaw any time soon, experts said Friday.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy called on Japan and Korea Thursday to mend ties before President Barack Obama's Asian tour in April.
"I think the two countries really should and will take the lead in this process and the United States, being a close ally of both of them, is happy to help in any way we can," she told NHK. "I'm sure that President Obama will be very, very happy with the progress that they will make."
Her interview was followed by former U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, who expressed his hope that President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold their first summit in The Hague, Netherlands ― the venue for the Nuclear Security Summit March 24-25.
Despite its biggest ally's urging, Korea is not expected to jump into action.
"The bilateral relations are important, but the Korean government cannot disregard public opinion toward Japan, which has ceaselessly provoked Korea with flawed perception of history," said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University.
"Although the U.S. is urging Korea to resolve its diplomatic row with Japan, we cannot accept it, given Japan's denial of history."
The Abe administration has ramped up its aggressive nationalistic stance.
Recently, Japan's Senior Vice Minister of Education Yoshitaka Sakurada said that the issue of sexual slavery was a fabrication and called for a re-examination of the supporting testimony, while the Japanese government plans to review testimony previously given by Koreans used to come up with the "Kono Statement," a landmark apology for its imperialist past issued in 1993.
Incensed by Japan's recent rightward shift, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se urged Japan Wednesday to take responsibility for the sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II and make sincere efforts to resolve the matter.
Cheong Wa Dae said that there would be no summit between Korea and Japan ahead of the latter's contrition.
"No talks are underway with Japan," said presidential secretary for foreign affairs Kim Hyoung-zhin.
Senior officials of the Park administration are saying that a precondition for any summit is that Abe acknowledge either the 1993 Kono Statement or the 1995 Murayama Statement.
Abe has refused to clearly acknowledge them and attempted to review them, triggering concerns that the hawkish politician will eventually revise or scrap them.
"Yes, we still retain the position that Abe should accept the statements before the summit," Kim said.
Park's spokesman Min Kyung-wook refused to elaborate on the issue, but also said that this is not the time to talk about the first meeting between the two estranged chief executives.
"The conditions are not ripe for such a meeting," he said.
The United States is urging Korea and Japan to improve their thorny ties, but their chilly relations are unlikely to thaw any time soon, experts said Friday.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy called on Japan and Korea Thursday to mend ties before President Barack Obama's Asian tour in April.
"I think the two countries really should and will take the lead in this process and the United States, being a close ally of both of them, is happy to help in any way we can," she told NHK. "I'm sure that President Obama will be very, very happy with the progress that they will make."
Her interview was followed by former U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, who expressed his hope that President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold their first summit in The Hague, Netherlands ― the venue for the Nuclear Security Summit March 24-25.
Despite its biggest ally's urging, Korea is not expected to jump into action.
"The bilateral relations are important, but the Korean government cannot disregard public opinion toward Japan, which has ceaselessly provoked Korea with flawed perception of history," said Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University.
"Although the U.S. is urging Korea to resolve its diplomatic row with Japan, we cannot accept it, given Japan's denial of history."
The Abe administration has ramped up its aggressive nationalistic stance.
Recently, Japan's Senior Vice Minister of Education Yoshitaka Sakurada said that the issue of sexual slavery was a fabrication and called for a re-examination of the supporting testimony, while the Japanese government plans to review testimony previously given by Koreans used to come up with the "Kono Statement," a landmark apology for its imperialist past issued in 1993.
Incensed by Japan's recent rightward shift, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se urged Japan Wednesday to take responsibility for the sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II and make sincere efforts to resolve the matter.
Cheong Wa Dae said that there would be no summit between Korea and Japan ahead of the latter's contrition.
"No talks are underway with Japan," said presidential secretary for foreign affairs Kim Hyoung-zhin.
Senior officials of the Park administration are saying that a precondition for any summit is that Abe acknowledge either the 1993 Kono Statement or the 1995 Murayama Statement.
Abe has refused to clearly acknowledge them and attempted to review them, triggering concerns that the hawkish politician will eventually revise or scrap them.
"Yes, we still retain the position that Abe should accept the statements before the summit," Kim said.
Park's spokesman Min Kyung-wook refused to elaborate on the issue, but also said that this is not the time to talk about the first meeting between the two estranged chief executives.
"The conditions are not ripe for such a meeting," he said.
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