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| South Korea's Deputy National Assembly Speaker Chung Jin-suk, left, who heads President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's delegation for policy consultations with Japan talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, second from right, during their meeting at the Japanese foreign ministry in Tokyo, Monday. Yonhap |
Delegation to meet with Japanese PM Kishida Wednesday
By Kang Seung-woo
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's policy consultation delegation and Japan's top diplomat concurred on the need, Monday, to bolster relations between South Korea and Japan on the occasion of Seoul's leadership change, according to the head of the team.
However, the delegates did not go into detail about thorny issues over wartime history such as sexual slavery and forced labor that have prevented the neighboring countries from getting along with each other for years.
The seven-member delegation, led by Vice National Assembly Speaker Rep. Chung Jin-suk, who flew to Tokyo on a five-day trip, Sunday, sat down with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, who was accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Mori.
"The two countries agreed that the cooperative relationship should be closely maintained and strengthened as neighboring countries that share the values of liberal democracy, market economy and shared future tasks," Chung said following its meeting with Hayashi.
"Bilateral efforts are required to resolve key issues between South Korea and Japan, so I suggested that the South Korean and Japanese governments make diplomatic efforts to live up to public expectations by taking advantage of new momentum (from the inauguration of a new South Korean government)."
During the meeting, the delegation also delivered Yoon's message on South Korea-Japan ties to Hayashi.
"In a word, Yoon wants to restore bilateral relations to their heyday as soon as possible and I made this clear to the foreign minister," Chung said.
The Japanese foreign ministry also announced that Hayashi had received a courtesy call from the delegation earlier in the day.
"In the exchange of opinions with the vice foreign minister, candid discussions were made on how to proceed with Japan-South Korea relations under the next South Korean administration and how to deal with North Korea," it said in a press statement.
Currently, ties between South Korea and Japan have slumped to their worst level in years due to Tokyo's imposition of export controls on three key materials critical for the semiconductor and display industries here, in an apparent retaliation against a ruling by South Korea's Supreme Court ordering Japanese companies to compensate surviving Korean victims of wartime forced labor.
In that respect, there was speculation that the delegation might negotiate with the Japanese side on the pending issues.
The Japanese government has insisted that the South Korean government comes up with solutions to the sexual slavery and forced labor issues in order to normalize bilateral ties, because Japan believes the two issues have already been resolved by bilateral agreements signed decades ago.
However, Chung rejected the conjecture, saying that the meeting was aimed at signaling Yoon's diplomatic direction with Japan.
"We did not make any suggestion to the Japanese government regarding the issues," the five-term lawmaker said.
"They could be resolved through intensive talks and negotiations via an official diplomatic channel," he added.
The delegation is expected to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Wednesday, and ask him to attend Yoon's inauguration ceremony, scheduled for May 10.
Chung said South Korean officials will warmly welcome and host him if he decides to attend the event.
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