HIROSHIMA: US President Joe Biden on Sunday invited the presidents of Japan and South Korea to have three-way discussions in Washington, according to a senior US administration source
The presidents had a brief meeting outside of the G7 summit, to which South Korea was invited by the host nation Japan as their long-frozen relations as neighbours begin to thaw, AFP said.
Key US allies Tokyo and Seoul have long-standing disagreements about matters relating to Japan’s cruel 1910–1945 colonial administration of Korea, such as sexual slavery and forced labour.
But since Seoul unveiled a proposal to pay individuals impacted by forced labour during the war without Tokyo’s involvement, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have actively worked to repair strained relations.
According to a statement from the White House, Biden congratulated the two leaders for their “courageous work to improve their bilateral ties.”
According to the statement, the three presidents also addressed “new coordination” against North Korea’s “illicit nuclear and missile threats.”
The official stated that the meeting’s schedule will be determined “soon”.
Earlier on Sunday, Yoon and Kishida paid a historically significant visit to a monument for Koreans killed in the Hiroshima atomic blast.
It was just the second time a Japanese prime minister had visited the memorial, and the first time leaders of the two nations had done it together.
Yoon remarked at a bilateral discussion after the visit, “This will be remembered as a brave action by Prime Minister Kishida that paves the way for a future of peace while expressing grief for the Korean victims of the atomic bombing.”
