Top envoys meet amid strained ties

Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, left, poses with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi during their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting in London, Wednesday. The meeting marked the first foreign ministerial talks between the two countries since February 2020 amid a deepening diplomatic dispute.

Foreign Minister Chung Euiyong and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi agreed Wednesday to establish “future-oriented” bilateral relations between the two countries, currently strained by a feud over wartime history, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

However, the two sides still remained far apart over how to resolve the thorny issue.

Their first in-person meeting since Chung took office in February was on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting in London, and followed trilateral talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Currently, ties between South Korea and Japan have slumped to their worst level in years due to the latter’s imposition of export controls on three key materials critical for the semiconductor and display industries here in apparent retaliation for a ruling by South Korea’s Supreme Court ordering Japanese companies to compensate South Koreans who were forced to work for them before and during World War II.

“The two ministers agreed on the need for South Korea and Japan to closely cooperate for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and the World,” the ministry said in a press release.

“And they shared the view that the two countries should develop relations between Seoul and Tokyo in a future-oriented manner.”

The two ministers also agreed to continue cooperation to make substantive progress in efforts for the complete denuclearization of, and the establishment of lasting peace on, the Korean Peninsula.

Recently, Japan’s decision to dump radioactive wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, starting 2023, has sparked even more tension between the two countries, with the government here claiming the decision was made without full consultation with neighboring countries. Seoul is now reviewing whether to refer the matter to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

Regarding the dumping of the wastewater, Chung express deep concerns to Motegi, unambiguously stressing opposition to the decision. As for the history issues, he also urged Japan to adopt the correct perception of these.

In response, the Japanese foreign minister again urged Seoul to take appropriate measures over rulings by South Korean courts ordering his government to compensate former comfort women, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.

Motegi also pointed out that the liquidation of South Korean assets of Japanese companies over wartime forced labor issues must be avoided, it added.

Believing that the issue was settled under the 1965 pact between the two nations for the normalization of ties, in which South Korea received grants and economic cooperation loans, Tokyo strongly insists that Seoul itself must address any judicial rulings on the matter, something the government here cannot comply with.

Despite their differences on such thorny issues, the top diplomats’ first meeting provided a flicker of hope for improvement in the strained diplomatic ties.

“We had good talks,” Chung said following the meeting.

According to the foreign ministry, during the meeting Chung expressed his determination to strengthen communication with Japan on various pending issues, and Motegi fully agreed with this.

“The talks proceeded in a good atmosphere, and this served as an opportunity for the earnest start of communication between the two countries,” a ministry official said.