SEOUL: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was in Seoul on Sunday for a historic meeting with South Korea’s president as the two nations work to improve their relationship in the face of rising nuclear threats from Pyongyang.
A Japanese leader’s last formal bilateral visit to South Korea comes in a decade. To pay his respects, he initially went to Seoul’s National Cemetery, which contains the graves of military warriors who had fought against Japanese colonial authority among other causes.
Kishida then went into summit talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has made resetting ties with Japan a top priority for his administration. Yoon was in Tokyo in March for a fence-mending visit.
The United States’ two most important security partners in East Asia, the neighbouring nations, have long been embroiled in a dispute over events connected to Japan’s harsh 1910–1945 colonial colonisation of the Korean peninsula, including sexual slavery and forced labour.
Before leaving on Sunday, Kishida stated that the two leaders were trying to resume what is known as “shuttle diplomacy”—regular high-level meetings and reciprocal visits—which had been put on hold for years due to a contentious trade dispute related to the forced labour problem.
Kishida invited Yoon to a G7 meeting in Hiroshima this month in exchange for their March summit agreement to eliminate tit-for-tat trade restrictions.
In a statement, Kishida expressed his desire for “an honest exchange of views” with Yoon, “based on an aura of trust”.
According to local rumours, Yoon is anticipated to organise a dinner party in the presidential mansion where Korean barbecue would probably be served. Yoon may even prepare food for Kishida.
Yoon stated to AFP in March, just before taking off for Tokyo, that it is past time for the two nations to “end the vicious cycle of mutual hostility and work together” to enhance regional security.
According to Lim Eun-jung, an associate professor at Kongju National University, Kishida’s decision to go directly to Seoul’s National Cemetery to offer his respects is significant.
“I pay great attention since a sitting Japanese prime minister visiting is an unusual event.”
Forced labour dispute
The difficult subject of forced labour, which wrecked relations in 2018, will be the subject of “candid discussions” between Yoon and Kishida, according to the head of Tokyo.
When South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to those who had been subjected to forced labour during the war, Tokyo was outraged, and a series of increasingly harsh economic sanctions followed.
Yoon, who assumed government last year, has attempted to put the past fight behind him. Earlier this year, he unpopularly announced a proposal to pay victims without cooperation from Tokyo.
Dozens of South Koreans gathered on Saturday and Sunday to protest Kishida’s trip.
The ideal solution for Koreans would be for “Kishida to apologise in his own words,” according to Benjamin A. Engel, research professor at Seoul National University’s Institute of International Affairs.
The efforts to improve relations come as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un intensifies his nation’s weapons production and testing after declaring his nation a “irreversible” nuclear power last year.
