Japan, S.Korea Try Conciliatory Approach to Mend Ties
Japan and South Korea on Thursday took a conciliatory step toward mending ties frayed by months of low-level squabbling with a courtesy call between foreign ministers.
South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou Hyun, who has been visiting Japan this week, met with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida at his office in Tokyo.
The pair were pictured shaking hands and smiling.
Their meeting came as the two U.S. allies have struggled to end diplomatic discord over Japan's wartime aggression in Korea, a territorial dispute, and a general animosity that soured relations over the last year.
The tension has obviated any meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun Hye, both of whom have only been in power for a few months.
"South Korea is an important partner and neighbor that shares fundamental values and interests. I hope to enhance bilateral relations by continuing our close communication," Kishida said at the onset of the meeting.
Kim echoed Kishida's statement, saying: "South Korea and Japan are partners who should work together for the peace and stability of the region."
The two men did not discuss a putative summit in any detail, Kishida said.
Japan and South Korea have many issues of common interest, including pushing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, and working with China, the region's biggest economy.
But Tokyo and Seoul have long quarreled over reparation for Korean "comfort women" who were forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during World War II, as well as for men who were forced into labor.
Japan maintains the compensation issue was settled in 1965 when the two countries normalized relations. But South Korean courts have ruled that individuals can still seek damage payments.
Last year a row over the ownership of two sparsely populated islands erupted when South Korea's then-president visited the archipelago, which Seoul controls as Dokdo but which Tokyo claims as Takeshima.
Asian nations have also been wary of the rise of Abe, who is known for nationalistic views, including of Japan's war-time history.
However some commentators speculate that if, as expected, Abe does well in coming upper house elections, South Korea may find it easier to deal with him because he will represent a stability in Japanese politics that has long been missing.
Source: Agence France Presse
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