SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN South Korean, Japanese foreign ministers to meet for the first time in four years

Record ID: 151545

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA-JAPAN South Korean, Japanese foreign ministers to meet for the first time in four years
  • Date: 17th June 2015
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - 2015) (REUTERS) JAPANESE FLAG OUTSIDE THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 2nd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9NFJ1T5B8RQ9H2XXVGEGV3IY8
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will meet Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Sunday (June 21), South Korea's foreign ministry said on Wednesday (June 17).
    Yun will attend a ceremony at the South Korean embassy the next day for the anniversary of a 1965 treaty normalizing diplomatic ties.
    "In the South Korea-Japan foreign minister's meeting to be taking place on the afternoon of June 21th, South Korean foreign minister Yun and Japanese foreign minister Kishida will share ideas on mutual concerns including bilateral relationship, North Korean issues, regional and international issues." South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il told reporters.
    South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's visit to Japan will be the first such trip in four years, as the U.S. allies prepare to mark the anniversary of the normalisation of ties amid a chill because of feuds over the wartime past.
    "Through various events opening in diverse places in both South Korea and Japan for the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Korea-Japan bilateral relations, we expect to see improvements in the relationship and mutual understanding of citizens in both countries," he added.
    The visit was simultaneously announced in Tokyo.
    The top Japanese government spokesman in Tokyo added he welcomed the talks.
    "Japan and Korea are facing many issues, but this will be the first time the South Korean Minister will be visiting Japan to discuss Japan-South Korea relations, North Korean affairs, and issues regarding regional and international communities. We hope it will be a sincere and forward-looking discussion for both sides," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters at the Prime Minister's residence in Tokyo.
    Relations between Japan and South Korea have been cool, mainly because of disputes over the legacy of World War Two and Japan's 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean peninsula.
    The issue of "comfort women", as those forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels are euphemistically known in Japan, has been especially thorny. The neighbours are also locked in a dispute over tiny islands that lie between them.
    U.S. officials have urged them to repair ties as the United States and its Asian allies confront the challenge of an increasingly assertive China and an unpredictable North Korea.
    In an interview with the Washington Post last week, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said there had been "considerable progress" on the issue of the women forced to work as prostitutes, and the two sides were "in the final stage of our negotiations". She did not elaborate.
    South Korean officials have said there had been "meaningful progress" in high-level discussions between the two countries over the women.
    South Korea says Japan has not done enough to atone, while many Japanese conservatives argue there is no proof of direct military or government involvement in human trafficking for brothels.
    Abe has said he stood by a landmark 1993 statement acknowledging Japanese authorities' involvement in coercing the women. He repeated that stance during an April visit to the United States.
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