Tokyo and Seoul hit the reset button on bilateral relationships as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Tokyo Thursday.
The two leaders promised to show the web page on years of animosity at a gathering, placing apart their tough, shared historical past and saying they wanted to work extra intently to counter regional safety challenges.
Their feedback at a summit in Tokyo spotlight how the 2 U.S. allies have been pushed nearer collectively by North Korea’s frequent missile launches, in addition to rising concern about China’s extra muscular position on the worldwide stage.
Yoon’s go to to Japan on Thursday was the primary for a South Korean president in 12 years. The urgency of the regional safety state of affairs – and the risk posed by North Korea – had been underscored within the hours earlier than his arrival, when the North fired a long-range ballistic missile that landed within the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
The two nations additionally agreed to drop an virtually four-year commerce dispute on high-tech supplies used for chips, a difficulty that has dogged their relationship even because the political significance of semiconductors, and securing their provide, has elevated.
“This week Tokyo saw its cherry blossom trees blooming a little earlier than usual. I’m very happy to have this opportunity to start a new chapter of a forward-looking future of Japan and South Korea relations on this day when we can feel the arrival of spring,” Kishida mentioned as the 2 confronted one another throughout a desk.
The two mentioned they might restart the beforehand halted “shuttle diplomacy” of standard chief visits between the nations.
“Today’s meeting with Prime Minister Kishida has a special meaning of letting the people of our two countries know that South Korea-Japan relations, which have gone through difficult times due to various pending issues, are at a new starting point,” Yoon mentioned.
He mentioned North Korea’s launch of a long-range ballistic missile that morning had proven the “grave threat” to worldwide peace and stability.
Export curbs
Japan will take away curbs on its exports to South Korea of vital supplies for smartphone shows and chips whereas Seoul will drop a World Trade Organization (WTO) grievance towards Tokyo, officers from each side mentioned.
Tokyo imposed the curbs in 2019 as tensions over a decades-old row with Seoul deepened.
Yoon has mentioned that he expects to “invigorate” safety cooperation. The two leaders are getting ready to verify the restart of a bilateral safety dialogue which has been suspended since 2018, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.
The try for nearer ties introduced a rebuke from China, whose international ministry mentioned it opposed the try by sure nations to type unique circles.
Skepticism at dwelling
Behind the scenes, Japanese officers have been cautious about bettering relations.
Yoon additionally faces skepticism at dwelling. In a ballot by Gallup Korea printed Friday, 64% of respondents mentioned there was no have to rush to enhance ties with Japan if there was no change in its angle. Around 85% mentioned they thought the present Japanese authorities was not apologetic about Japan’s colonial historical past.
Nevertheless, financial ties are sturdy. The two had been one another’s fourth-largest export markets in 2021, in keeping with the IMF. Japanese exports to South Korea totaled $52 billion, whereas South Korean exports totaled $30 billion, the info confirmed.
In a contemporary reminder of the long-running tensions, two South Korean victims of wartime pressured labor filed a lawsuit, looking for compensation from Japanese firm Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, their representatives mentioned Thursday.
Relations between the 2, long-strained over the wartime labor situation in addition to over disputed islands, and Korean women and girls pressured to work in Japanese wartime brothels, made headway final week when Seoul introduced a plan for its corporations to compensate former pressured laborers. The victims who filed the lawsuit rejected that plan.
Japan’s greatest business foyer, Keidanren, mentioned it and its South Korean counterpart, the Federation of Korean Industries, agreed to launch foundations aimed toward “future-oriented” bilateral relations.
Park Hong-keun, ground chief of South Korea’s predominant opposition Democratic Party, mentioned Yoon’s go to shouldn’t cease at “his trip down memory lane” and requested Yoon to earn a real apology and backbone from Japan on pressured labor points throughout his journey.
Japan mentioned the “strategic challenge posed by China is the biggest Japan has ever faced” in a protection technique paper launched in December. Tokyo worries that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has set a precedent that can encourage China to assault self-ruled Taiwan.
China’s coast guard entered waters round disputed East China Sea islets on Wednesday to counter what it known as the incursion of Japanese vessels into Chinese territorial waters.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
