Park receives Abe's message

President Park Geun-hye, right, escorts former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday. / Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed the hope that he would be able to hold a long-stalled summit with President Park Geun-hye in a message delivered Friday, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

Park responded by saying, “Japan should first restore the reputations of sex slaves ― those forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.” She also said that Korea and Japan should build future-oriented relations.

The President met former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori at the presidential office and the latter passed on the message. Mori, who serves as the head of Tokyo’s 2020 Olympic organizing committee, arrived in Korea earlier in the day to attend the opening ceremony of the Incheon Asian Games.

Abe’s message came as the bilateral ties are probably at their worst ever due to a long-running feud over historical issues including the sex slaves.

Korea has urged Japan to make an apology over the issue as a prerequisite for a summit, saying the issue is becoming increasingly urgent as most victims are well over 80 and may die before they receive compensation or an apology.

Tokyo is reportedly seeking a Korea-Japan summit on the sidelines of November's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing, China. Observers noted the Mori visit is seen as a potential steppingstone for a meeting between Park and Abe.

It is the second time this year the hawkish prime minister has delivered a message to Park ― the first delivered in July by Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe.

Although both state leaders took office more than a year ago, there has been no summit despite Abe’s repeated requests for one. These were rejected by Park due to the Japanese government's rightward inclination that includes a denial of the nation's wartime atrocities as well as its claim to Dokdo, Korea's easternmost islets.

In March, U.S. President Barack Obama organized a three-way meeting with Park and Abe in The Hague on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, but it ended without any progress being made.

Park has shown a more flexible attitude toward Japan, calling for better relations between the two countries during her address marking national liberation on Aug. 15.

In response to Korea's calls to face up to history and take forward-looking measures for the sex slaves, Japan has refused to do so, saying that that was already addressed by a 1965 normalization treaty under which Korea received $800 million in grants and loans for its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Park and Abe are scheduled to attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week, but it remains to be seen whether they will meet each other.