ED Momentum for dialogue

Seoul, Tokyo should go all-out to break deadlock

President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held their first summit in 15 months Tuesday to break the deadlock over soured ties between the two countries. But they failed to produce any substantial results, only agreeing to disagree over how to resolve the ongoing trade dispute.

Anyone could hardly expect a breakthrough during the one-time summit which was held in Chengdu, China, on the sidelines of the annual Korea-China-Japan summit. Seoul and Tokyo reaffirmed that they are still poles apart over the root cause of the trade row: a historical issue concerning Japan's wartime forced labor. They have to go a long way before finding an ultimate solution.

Yet we don't have to be all pessimistic. It is meaningful for the leaders of the Asian neighbors to agree to resolve the problem through dialogue. The Moon-Abe meeting sent a message, though symbolic, that they resumed the top-level dialogue. In other words, the summit can provide momentum for negotiations. So the two leaders need to meet more frequently to talk about pending issues frankly and sincerely. It is also important to put ministerial and working-level talks back on right track.

The trade conflict erupted in July when Japan imposed restrictions on its exports of three key materials crucial to Korean firms manufacturing semiconductors and display panels. The measure was in apparent retaliation to rulings by the Korean Supreme Court that ordered Japanese firms to compensate surviving South Korean victims of forced labor during World War II. In August, Tokyo aggravated the situation by removing Korea from its “whitelist” of favored trading partners.

In return, Seoul decided to terminate a military intelligence-sharing pact ― the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA). This decision sparked a strong backlash not only from Japan, but also from the U.S. because the pact is symbolic for regional security cooperation between the three countries. At the last minute last month, the Moon administration extended the pact conditionally to avoid catastrophic consequences. On Dec. 20, Tokyo relaxed its export restrictions.

During the summit, Moon asked Abe to lift all trade measures against Korea. But Abe repeated his earlier position that the measures will remain in place unless Korea nullifies its compensation rulings for the forced labor victims. It is regrettable to see the nationalist Japanese prime minister continue to argue that all reparations claims arising from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea were settled by the 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral diplomatic relations.

At stake is how to narrow differences over the historical issue. Abe's revisionist views on Japan's disgraced history make it difficult to find a negotiated solution. In this regard, we urge him to face up to history squarely. Then he should make sincere efforts to build trust with Japan's former colony to mend ties and forge a future-oriented partnership with it.