Abe Seeks Future-Oriented Japan-S. Korea Relations

October 10, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed willingness Tuesday to build future-oriented relations with South Korea in line with the spirit of the 1998 joint declaration.

"As neighbors, Japan and South Korea have various challenges to overcome," Abe told a symposium in Tokyo to mark the 20th anniversary of the joint declaration by then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

The problems include the South Korean public's backlash against the 2015 agreement between Tokyo and Seoul to resolve "finally and irreversibly" the issue of former Korean "comfort women" who were forced to work as prostitutes for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

Abe underscored the importance of powerful political leadership so that the two countries can strive toward making bilateral ties future-oriented despite public opinions and other pressures.

Attending the event, Lee Su-hoon, South Korean ambassador to Japan, said the Japanese and South Korean governments need to handle difficult problems wisely to effectively strengthen bilateral ties.

In the declaration 20 years ago, the leaders of the two countries at the time expressed their determination to establish a new bilateral partnership toward the 21st century based on mutual understanding and trust by squarely looking at historical events, including happenings during Japan's 35year colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula through the end of the war. Jiji Press