Korea-Japan Disputes Remain to Be Addressed
South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 4. Although they resumed their communication, any improvement in the relations between the two countries remains to be seen.
Earlier, Japan said that there would be no summit talks with South Korea this month. The 11-minute talks at the ASEAN Plus Three Summit were at the South Korean president’s suggestion.
At the meeting, they just reiterated their stance that disputes should be addressed through dialogues. Solutions to the ongoing disputes between the two countries are yet to come and any positive prediction on the bilateral relations is still too early. The Blue House explained that the government’s official stance on the South Korean Supreme Court’s ruling on wartime forced labor remains unchanged from equal compensation by South Korean and Japanese enterprises.
In the meantime, Akiko Santo, President of the House of Councillors of Japan, is refusing to meet with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang at the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit. This is because the latter demanded an apology from the Japanese emperor in February this year with regard to the comfort women issue.