Moon underscores NK-Japan dialogue, relations

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe enter a banquet hall for a luncheon as part of a bilateral summit held on the sidelines of a tripartite meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Tokyo on Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Bo-eun

President Moon Jae-in stressed Wednesday the need for improved relations between Japan and North Korea in achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.

“I believe that to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia, not only inter-Korean dialogue, but also dialogue and normalization of relations between Japan and North Korea are necessary,” Moon said ahead of the meeting with Abe, held on the sidelines of a tripartite summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Relations between Tokyo and Pyongyang remain strained as the two have yet to resolve issues relating to Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of Korea, and North Korea's holding of Japanese nationals that the regime is believed to have abducted. Tokyo has been calling for Pyongyang to resolve the abduction issue, and reached out, seeking to hold a summit between the leaders. Progress is yet to be seen on holding a bilateral summit.

In a recent interview with Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun, Moon said Kim Jong-un is willing to talk with Japan, from what he could tell from the inter-Korean summit held on April 27.

Abe stated he “highly evaluated weighty developments” toward North Korea's denuclearization, and pledged Japan's cooperation in drawing out concrete actions from Pyongyang in its summit with Washington.

Abe commented on the timing of lifting economic sanctions imposed on the North Korean regime.

He stated Pyongyang should not be rewarded for shutting down its Punggye-ri nuclear testing site or for suspending intercontinental ballistic missile launches.

North Korea needs to show “additional and concrete actions,” Abe said.

Moon said South Korea would not ease sanctions without consent from the international community.

“It is impossible for South Korea to conduct economic cooperation with the North, arbitrarily,” he said.

Abe also said regional security needs to be addressed in establishing a lasting system of peace on the Korean Peninsula, stating Japan's wishes to take part in discussions on achieving peace in Northeast Asia.

Moon said “Japan needs to take part in establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, in a broader sense.”

Meanwhile, the leaders also agreed to pursue a means to develop future-oriented relations between the states despite lingering historical and territorial issues, including the conflict about victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery and South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo.

The leaders agreed to increase bilateral exchanges and communication at various levels at a time the states mark the 20th anniversary of a declaration between former leaders Kim Dae-jung and Keizo Obuchi in 1998 in which the leaders agreed to take the bilateral partnership to a higher level.

Moon and Abe spoke about holding discussions on how to deal with the common challenges of the low birthrate, the aging society and the fourth industrial revolution, on businesses of South Korea and Japan entering new markets, on energy and climate issues and increasing youth exchanges.

In addition, the leaders agreed to cooperate in reaching an agreement on fishing in the two countries' Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). A failure to reach a deal for two years has affected the livelihoods of South Korean fishermen.

The bilateral summit followed 18 occasions of meetings and phone calls between the leaders since Moon took office in May last year. It was Moon's first visit to Japan.