[WEEKLY FOCUS] KISHIDA TO VISIT S. KOREA

한일 정상회담의 주요의제는?

Dami : Earlier in the week, it became official that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will come to South Korea this weekend for summit talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol.
For this edition of Weekly Focus, we take a closer look at what to expect from the upcoming Seoul-Tokyo summit, with our foreign affairs correspondent Choi Min-jung.
Welcome, Min-jung.

Min-jung : Thank you for having me.

Dami : Min-jung, Fumio Kishida is paying a working visit for two days starting Sunday,... and the trip is largely anticipated to mark the official resumption of direct diplomacy between the nations. What’s the significance behind this?

Min-jung : Well, if we go back to March,... the South Korean government compared Seoul-Tokyo relations to a glass of water,... saying that it was "half full."
This was when President Yoon visited Tokyo for summit talks with the Japanese prime minister.
It was also when the two leaders were able to mend soured ties,... as Yoon proposed a plan to compensate the Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a third party,... without contributions from Japanese companies.
Since then much progress has been made to normalize ties.
South Korea fully restored its military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo also known as "GSOMIA,"...
while Japan put South Korea back on its “white list” of trusted trading partners.
The two countries this week held their first finance leaders' meeting in seven years.
And Japan's National Security Advisor came to South Korea to prepare for the summit,... and conveyed that Kishida's visit is a way to show gratitude for Yoon's, quote, "courageous decision" to improve relations with Japan.
And now, we will have to see if that “half-full” glass will slowly fill up.
South Korea and Japan both said Kishida’s upcoming visit would mark the resumption of regular visits to each other's country,... or what they have been calling "shuttle diplomacy."
Progress is being made rather quickly, as the summit was anticipated to take place around the summer,... but it’s actually taking place less than two months after Yoon visited Japan.
The upcoming visit will also be the first by a Japanese Prime Minister for a bilateral meeting in twelve years.
And talking to reporters earlier on Tuesday, the Japanese leader said the summit will be a good opportunity to exchange honest opinions on ways to develop Seoul-Tokyo relations.

Dami : Right, South Korea and Japan do seem to be on the right track in moving forward. What are some of the key items on the agenda for the summit,... reportedly taking place on Sunday?

Min-jung : A presidential official said that there are many pending issues, but the most important are cooperation in security and the economy.
The leaders are expected to discuss ways to strengthen their security cooperation to counter growing nuclear threats from North Korea.
They are also likely to agree on the need to boost trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo.
Kyodo News also reported that security cooperation against Pyongyang will be accelerated during the summit.
As for economic cooperation,... Japan recently lifted export curbs on South Korea.
And sources are saying that Kishida will meet with South Korean business leaders to discuss ways to enhance economic exchanges between the two countries.
So we are sensing a more future-oriented discussion.
But here in Korea,... eyes are on whether Kishida will offer a sincere apology from Japan for the use of forced labor during its occupation of Korea.

Dami : Right, as you said,... the Korean public can’t help but focus on the past involving the issue of forced labor. Can we expect any progress with regard to this?

Min-jung : Right, the public opinion in South Korea right now is that Japan’s response with regard to the matter has not been enough.
During the Seoul-Tokyo summit in March, Kishida confirmed that he upholds historical perceptions of previous Japanese governments, which includes Japan's apology for its colonization of Korea in the Joint Declaration of 1998.
However, he did not repeat the statements word-for-word,... nor did he offer a sincere apology.
But Seoul’s presidential office said that it would be difficult to expect a forward-looking attitude for now, because diplomacy has just been restored and more trust needs to be built...

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2023-05-06, 12:00 (KST)

[blackbelt]

prime hikikomori kishi nor his fellow hikis like jean miyu knows what life is like outside their bedrooms. maybe the prime hiki can learn how to talk to women while he's out.