Korea, Japan hold vice minister-level dialogue

By Kang Seung-woo

Korea and Japan held a vice minister-level strategic meeting in Tokyo amid frayed bilateral relations over the “comfort women” issue, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Cho Tae-yong, the first vice foreign minister, sat down with his Japanese counterpart Akitaka Saiki and discussed regional issues, including the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

The talks between the foreign ministers, which were launched in 2005 with the aim of discussing long-term security and bilateral issues, were the first such talks since the inauguration of President Park Geun-hye in February of last year. Korea and Japan last held the talks in January 2013.

In addition, Wednesday’s meeting carried extra weight, as the representatives were expected to exchange views on a potential first summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Park.

Last month, Abe conveyed a message to Park via former Premier Yoshiro Mori, which included his hopes to hold a long-stalled summit between Korea and Japan as early as next month on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The APEC meeting is scheduled for Nov. 10 and 11 in Beijing.

In response to the proposal, Park said that Japan should first restore the reputations of Korean sex slaves forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II.

Relations between Korea and Japan have been strained due to a long-running feud over the historical issue.

Both state leaders took office more than a year ago, but there is no sign of a summit anytime soon despite Abe’s repeated requests. Park urged Japan to first resolve the issue of its wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women ahead of any summit.

“Korea’s stance about a possible summit with Japan has been well-known, and there is no change in our stance,” Cho said Tuesday before departing for Japan.

In order to settle the issue, the two nations have held director-general level talks on four occasions since April.