Uncertain future ahead of Korea-Japan relations

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong arrives for talks during the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in London, Wednesday. AP-Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

Although a long-awaited foreign ministerial meeting between Korea and Japan has taken place, diplomatic tension between the two countries is not expected to decrease overnight due to their sharp differences on pending issues, according to diplomatic observers, Thursday.

They also said even if their leaders sit down with each other for the first time in an envisioned summit in Britain next month, it will not be easy to see any improvement in relations, currently strained by a feud over wartime history and Japan's decision to release radioactive wastewater from a destroyed nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi held their first face-to-face talks Wednesday on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting in London, but they lasted a mere 20 minutes and did not proceed well, with one urging the other to show sincerity regarding the thorny issues, according to their respective foreign ministries.

Currently, ties between Seoul and Tokyo are at their lowest ebb in decades over wartime history issues, so Chung, who took office in February, has not even had a phone call with Motegi due to Japan's refusal to accept any attempts at contact.

“I do not believe the bilateral ties will improve anytime soon,” said Lee Won-deog, a professor of Japanese studies at Kookmin University.

“There was a glimmer of expectation that the Chung-Motegi talks would serve as momentum to ease the ongoing dispute ahead of a series of diplomatic events such as the Korea-U.S. summit on May 21 and a possible summit between President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on the fringes of the G7 summit in Britain in June. But based on the meeting outcome, the two sides do not seem prepared to mend fences with each other, making it hard to realize such expectations.”

Yang Ki-ho, a professor of Japanese studies at Sungkonghoe University, echoed Lee's view.

“The meeting just ended up with the two top diplomats staking out their own position on the pending issues, raising speculation that it is highly unlikely to see the diplomatic tension fade away,” Yang noted.

The professor also said that rather than voluntarily holding the meeting, Korea and Japan were pressured by the United States, and were responding to growing calls from the media to ameliorate the tense relations by communicating with each other.

The meeting followed trilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The two countries are now expected to work on arranging a summit between Moon and Suga. Since the Japanese premier took office in September last year, the two heads of state have yet to meet each other in person.

While there are lingering rumors that the two nations may find ways to ease the feud in the envisioned summit, the experts did not buy into this conjecture despite the two leaders potentially sitting down with each other.

“Should they take place, the Moon-Suga talks may follow a trilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G7 summit. Even if they meet, it is naive to have high hopes for any fence-mending through the bilateral summit,” Lee said.

Yang said, “The point is the Japanese government totally distrusts the Korean government, so it is reluctant to initiate efforts toward reconciliation. In addition, with Moon's term nearing its end, the Japanese side seems to have low expectations for better ties.”