Japan’s Prime Minister hopeful for ties as S. Korea looks to resolve wartime dispute
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Japan PM Fumio Kishida said he and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol have committed “to resolve pending issues very promptly”.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Saturday he was hopeful for future ties with South Korea, whose conservative government has sought to resolve a long-time dispute over wartime forced labour.
Mr Kishida said he and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol have committed “to resolve pending issues very promptly”.
“We want to restore bilateral relations to a healthy state and develop them further,” Mr Kishida told a news conference on a visit to Washington.
He declined to speak directly on South Korea’s new proposal
Since narrowly winning elections in 2022, Mr Yoon has sought to improve relations with Japan so that Tokyo and Seoul can work together on shared concerns such as North Korea.
Memories of Japan’s brutal 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula have long cast a cloud on the relationship.
Japan forced about 780,000 Koreans into labour, according to Seoul’s figures, not including women forced into sexual servitude. Survivors have long pushed for direct compensation and an apology.
Under Seoul’s new proposal, third parties – likely South Korean companies that benefited from Japanese reparations – would offer payments. Survivor groups have long demanded direct payments and an apology from Japan, which insists that the matter is closed under a 1965 treaty that restored relations.
As part of the treaty, Japan provided US$800 million (S$1.06 billion) in grants and cheap loans to South Korea as reparations. AFP
