Japan FM plans Korea visit to resolve wartime issues
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit South Korea in an effort to improve relations amid diplomatic mistrust between the two Asia-Pacific countries.
Kishida said at a press briefing in Tokyo on Friday that he was arranging a visit to Seoul as early as Monday.
The Japanese foreign minister has hoped for an early resolution of a long-running dispute with Seoul over “comfort women,” who were forced to work in wartime Japanese military brothels.
“I’m ready to rack my brains, do my utmost and sweat,” Kishida told reporters. “We have been trying to realize the agreement... to accelerate talks and seek an early settlement. This is part of this effort.”
Local media reports earlier said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had instructed Kishida to go to Seoul for ministerial talks.
Shinzo wants to resolve a range of issues regarding Tokyo’s brutal behavior during its colonization of the Korean Peninsula in the first half of the last century, they said.
Japan occupied large parts of China and the Korean Peninsula during World War II.
South Korea’s relations with Japan have long been strained over memories of the brutal wartime history. Senior authorities in Seoul emphasize that Tokyo has yet to properly atone for its past actions.
Japan and South Korea are also at odds over sovereignty on a pair of islands called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese in the Sea of Japan.
Seoul, which controls the islands since the end of the Japanese colonial rule after World War II, considers Japan’s claims as stemming from its colonial past.
Bilateral ties, however, have warmed since Premier Abe met South Korean President Park Geun-hye last month in Seoul.
North Korea slams new-US-led sanctions monitoring team as ‘unlawful’
North Korea revises constitution, defines South as 'hostile state'
Kremlin rejects 'fake news' about North Koreans fighting in Ukraine
Iran among top nuclear technology countries: AEOI chief
Democrats 'risk losing' election for backing Israeli war on Gaza, Lebanon: US journalist
Protesters remove busts of Israel's first president from Manchester Univ.
VIDEO | Hezbollah drones
US involvement in Israel’s 'regional war' unconstitutional, lawmakers tell Biden
107 years of Balfour Declaration that paved way for extermination of Palestinians
Hezbollah strikes Israeli military base near Tel Aviv
Palestinian media rights group condemns killing of two journalists by Israel
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
