Moon, Abe voice hope for improvement in Seoul-Tokyo ties

President Moon Jae-in, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands before a summit in Chengdu, China, Tuesday. Yonhap

South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday that it's of importance to have "frank dialogue" for a change in Seoul-Tokyo relations.

He stressed that South Korea and Japan are the closest neighbors "geographically, historically and culturally," speaking at the outset of his first official summit with Abe in 15 months.

Although the relationship has been "uncomfortable" for a brief time, the two sides can never be apart, he added.

Abe agreed that the two sides are important neighbors and trilateral security cooperation with the United States is especially crucial.

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He added he wants to improve Japan's relationship with South Korea.

They met at a Chengdu hotel in the wake of an annual group summit with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in the mainland Chinese city.

Their talks came after Seoul-Tokyo ties were hard hit by disputes over trade and shared history.

The summit outcome will set the tone for follow-up talks by working-level officials on tit-for-tat trade measures.

South Korea has urged Japan to retract its export curbs launched against South Korea in early July. Tokyo is calling on Seoul to compensate the Korean victims of wartime forced labor on its own. It stems from Japan's brutal colonial rule of Korea from 1910-45.

Last week, Japan relaxed some of its export restrictions but South Korea said the measures are not sufficient for a fundamental resolution to the problem. The Moon administration earlier suspended its move to terminate an accord with Japan on exchanging military information.

The previous Moon-Abe formal summit took place in New York in September last year on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly session. (Yonhap)

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