US welcomes Korea-Japan reconciliation

By Yi Whan-woo

The United States welcomed reconciliatory gestures made by the leaders of Korea and Japan in connection with the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations, according to a Seoul media outlet, Monday.

The U.S. Department of State said friendly ties between Seoul and Tokyo promote peace and stability in the region and also are in Washington’s best interests, Yonhap News Agency reported, quoting a department official.

The comment came after President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe each announced Sunday that they will attend anniversary events hosted by the two countries embassies to mark the landmark Seoul-Tokyo treaty on June 22, 1965.

Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday it has not yet received any official response from the U.S. government.

Park attended a ceremony hosted by the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Monday, while Abe joined one hosted by Seoul’s diplomatic mission to Tokyo on the same day.

The two leaders initially planned to have envoys deliver messages of congratulations about the 1965 pact.

Seoul’s diplomatic relationship with Tokyo has been on rollercoaster, although they agreed to normalize ties following the Korean Peninsula’s liberation from the Japanese rule in August 1945.

The two sides have had a decades-long dispute over Japan’s wartime reparations, including compensation for victims of Tokyo’s wartime sexual slavery before and during World War II.