SOUTH KOREA-DIPLOMACY/JAPAN Despite feuds, South Korea marks ties with Japan

Record ID: 151918

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA-DIPLOMACY/JAPAN Despite feuds, South Korea marks ties with Japan
  • Date: 22nd June 2015
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 22, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT PARK GEUN-HYE WALKING INTO CEREMONY VENUE FOR EVENT MARKING 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH JAPAN JAPANESE DELEGATES AND SOUTH KOREAN OFFICIALS CLAPPING PARK, SOUTH KOREAN OFFICIALS AND JAPANESE DELEGATES STANDING AT CEREMONY VENUE PARK AT CEREMONY JAPANES
  • Embargoed: 7th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6V3VV1405Q5IF6UXCRVLHV3XJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: South Korean President Park Geun-hye attended a reception hosted by the Japanese embassy in Seoul on Monday (June 22), to mark the 50th anniversary of normalisation of ties with Japan.
    Park gave a speech at the ceremony and called for the two countries to make a fresh start.
    "We must make this a watershed year in our shared path towards a future of renewed cooperation and common prosperity. This is our responsibility to our future generations," Park said.
    "As we seek to do so, what is important is to ensure that circumstances are put in place that allow us to free ourselves of the heavy burden of history, our single greatest impediment, in the spirit of reconciliation and harmony," she added.
    Park has not held bilateral talks with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since taking office in February 2013, two months after Abe became prime minister.
    Feuds over wartime history, as well as a row over tiny islands claimed by both countries, still fester.
    South Korea says Japan has not atoned properly for its World War Two conduct, including its role in forcing women, many of them Korean, into prostitution in military brothels.
    Japan apologized to the women, euphemistically called "comfort women", in a landmark 1993 statement acknowledging the role of authorities in coercing them. It says the matter of compensation for them has been settled.
    In Tokyo, Abe attended a similar ceremony at the South Korean embassy on Monday to mark normalisation of ties with South Korea.
    A statement from Park's office said their attendance at the two receptions was expected to contribute to the development of bilateral ties.
    Strained relations between Japan and South Korea have complicated efforts to boost security cooperation between two of the United States' main Asian allies as the region copes with an unpredictable North Korea and assertive China.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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