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| Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands before their meeting at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Wednesday. AP-Yonhap |
Han to meet Japanese business officials after returning to Seoul
By Jung Min-ho
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo called for rapprochement between South Korea and Japan at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, Wednesday, saying the two countries are important partners that share many common values.
Han, who arrived there Tuesday to attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, held a meeting at Akasaka Palace, where he and Kishida discussed pending issues such as forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of Korea and security cooperation in response to North Korea's evolving threat.
"The new government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), which was launched in May, continues to emphasize that it is in their common interest to swiftly improve and develop Korea-Japan relations," Han said. "South Korea and Japan are close neighbors and important cooperative partners who share democratic values and the principles of a market economy."
Han also conveyed his condolences to the victims of Nanmadol, a powerful typhoon that killed at least two people and injured 90 others in Japan last week.
Kishida said he is deeply grateful for the heartfelt condolences President Yoon Suk-yeol and Han sent to Abe, who was assassinated in July while campaigning for an election.
Yet, in front of journalists, Kishida refrained from speaking about the prospects of improving ties with South Korea.
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| Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, second from left, speaks during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo Wednesday. AP-Yonhap |
Following the meeting, Han told reporters that he and Kishida agreed to work together to seek optimal ways to resolve diplomatic issues blocking the path toward better relations.
The two biggest hurdles standing in the way are the issues of forced labor and sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 until the end of World War II. After the Supreme Court here ruled in 2018 that Japanese companies must compensate South Korean victims for wartime labor exploitation, bilateral relations hit the lowest point in decades and have remained so since. Tokyo maintains that the issue was settled as part of a 1965 agreement, under which Japan provided South Korea with $300 million in grants and $200 million in lending.
Han said he intends to meet with the leaders of Japanese companies in South Korea as soon as he returns to Seoul. He added that Japanese companies have contributed much to South Korea's economy.
Asked about the progress of consultations between Seoul and Tokyo on the forced labor issue, Han said, "The leaders of South Korea and Japan told their foreign ministers to discuss this and find a solution."
North Korea's growing military threat and cultural exchanges between South Korea and Japan were among the other issues high on the agenda.
Han and Kishida agreed to bolster Seoul-Tokyo and Seoul-Washington cooperation for security, given the serious geopolitical situation. In addition to joint efforts for peace, Han said Kishida told him that the two countries have "a lot of work to do" in Asia and beyond, including joint efforts to mitigate the effects of international supply chain challenges created by a new Cold War climate and wars in recent years.
After U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' meeting with Kishida Tuesday, the White House also expressed support for improving ties between South Korea and Japan for security purposes, saying in a statement, "The Vice President underscored the benefits of U.S-Japan-Republic of Korea trilateral cooperation given our shared security concerns and welcomed progress toward closer Japan-Republic of Korea bilateral ties."
In a sign of moving on from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Japanese government announced last week that it will lift the ban on the number of inbound passengers and resume visa-free travel for visitors from specific countries, including South Korea, from Oct. 11.
As the two nations are moving to lift their travel restrictions set up following the coronavirus outbreak, their cultural exchanges are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels soon.
The meeting was held a week after Yoon and Kishida's summit in New York, which marked the first one-on-one talks between the leaders of the two countries since December 2019 and raised hopes of improving relations badly frayed during the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
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