Moon Shows Hope for Normalization of Japan-N. Korea Ties

August 15, 2018

Seoul- South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday expressed his expectations for the normalization of Japan-North Korea relations.

During a speech delivered in a ceremony to mark the 73rd anniversary of the end of Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, Moon said he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will work on developing bilateral relations in a future-oriented manner.

The president also said he and Abe will cooperate closely with the aim of bringing peace and prosperity in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia. Such cooperation will hopefully allow Japan and North Korea to normalize their ties, he added.

Moon stopped short of making direct reference to issues related to Korean comfort women, who were forced into prostitution for Japanese troops before and during World War II, and Korean victims of forced labor under Japan's colonial rule.

Instead, he highlighted his stance to place emphasis on the development of a future-oriented relationship between Japan and South Korea that may also promote the improvement of Tokyo-Pyongyang relations.

Touching on the U.S.-North Korea summit held in Singapore in June, Moon said he hopes North Korea's complete denuclearization and corresponding comprehensive measures by the United States will be carried out swiftly.

When he meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again in Pyongyang in September, Moon said he wants to reaffirm the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration, signed at their first meeting in April.

The president said the two leaders will take a bold step toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as well as a declaration to formally end the Korean War and the signing of a North-South peace treaty.

Moon proposed an East Asia railway project joined by Northeast Asian countries and the United States. He said the project may become a starting point of the efforts to establish a multilateral security system in the region.

As for the connection of railways and roads between South and North Korea, agreed under the Panmunjom Declaration, Moon said the two countries will aim for the implementation of a groundbreaking ceremony by the end of this year. Jiji Press