Japan, South Korea agree to work towards warmer ties

TOKYO, Japan – Japan and South Korea pledged Thursday, October 2, to work towards the celebration of half a century of normal diplomatic ties, the latest in a series of baby steps as frosty ties gradually thaw.

“We will make efforts so that we will be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic normalization in a warm atmosphere,” Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told South Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-Yong.

“There are very difficult issues between South Korea and Japan,” Cho replied, but added: “We hope to make next year the year the relationship will start to develop.”

The 10 minute meeting comes after two-way foreign ministerial talks last week, and is being seen as the latest sign that the neighbors are trying to put two years of bitter disputes behind them.

Ties have soured over the familiar theme of their disputed shared history, and over what Seoul says is Tokyo’s reluctance to accept full responsibility for 35 years of colonialism up to 1945.

The coming-to-power in December 2012 of nationalist Shinzo Abe, whom Seoul accuses of being a revisionist, complicated things, especially with his visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 2.5 million war dead, including war criminals.

Seoul also reacted angrily to a move to review Japan’s 1993 official apology over its war-time brothel system.

Since taking office, Abe has visited dozens of foreign countries including all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), but has yet to visit South Korea or China.

Under US pressure, he and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye met in March with President Barack Obama, but have not sat down for a one-on-one. A summit had been an annual ritual for the two countries until 2012.

Kishida and his South Korean opposite number Yun Byung-Se last week held talks on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York, discussing Japan’s war-time brothel system.

On Wednesday Cho and his Japanese counterpart Akitaka Saiki discussed “various bilateral issues” and other subjects, including North Korea and trilateral cooperation involving China, the foreign ministry said. – Rappler.com