South Korea's Moon urges Japan to contemplate past, calls for dialogue amid trade row
Record ID:
1427245
South Korea's Moon urges Japan to contemplate past, calls for dialogue amid trade row
- Title: South Korea's Moon urges Japan to contemplate past, calls for dialogue amid trade row
- Date: 15th August 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN, SAYING: "In spite of a series of worrying actions taken by North Korea recently, the momentum for dialogue remains unshaken, which is a significant result of my government's peace process on the Korean Peninsula." AUDIENCE CLAPPING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN, SAYING: "North Korea and the United States are exploring working-level negotiations ahead of the third summit. This will probably constitute the most critical juncture in the entire process of achieving denuclearisation and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula." MOON AT CEREMONY (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN, SAYING: "When we pass this hurdle, denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula will move closer and inter-Korean relations will also make significant strides. When economic cooperation accelerates and the peace economy begins, unification will beckon as stark reality before us someday."
- Embargoed: 29th August 2019 05:36
- Keywords: South Korea anniversary Liberation Day president Moon Jae-in Japan North Korea
- Location: CHEONAN, SOUTH KOREA
- City: CHEONAN, SOUTH KOREA
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA004ASBUAMF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday (August 15) that Japan should look back upon its imperialist past but Seoul will "gladly join hands" if Tokyo chooses dialogue, in a carefully choreographed message amid an escalating history and trade row.
In his Liberation Day address marking Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule, Moon refrained from deriding Japan but laid out ambitious goals for inter-Korean relations, including an unprecedented call for unification by 2045.
Moon warned the global free trade order may suffer if a country "weaponises" a sector where it has an upper edge, referring to curbs Japan has imposed on exports of some high-tech materials to South Korea. Seoul calls the move as retaliation over a feud about wartime forced labour, while Tokyo cited unspecified security reasons.
The dispute, triggered after a South Korean court ordered Japanese firms last year to compensate some of their former labourers, has brought their ties to their lowest ebb in more than half a century.
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