No Abe-Moon meeting during G-20 Summit: S. Korean Official

June 25, 2019

Seoul--There would be no separate meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the two-day Group of 20 summit starting in Osaka Friday, a senior Blue House official said Tuesday.

The official of the South Korean presidential office was quoted by local media as saying that Seoul is always ready for a bilateral summit while Tokyo is not.

Moon will meet with Abe anytime if the Japanese side asks for the talks, the official was also quoted as saying.

Local media said the two East Asian neighboring countries will have to forgo the Abe-Moon meeting in the western Japan city due to the Japanese government's rejection of a South Korean government proposal to provide plaintiffs in wartime labor lawsuits in South Korea with effective compensation by soliciting contributions from Japanese and South Korean firms.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told an assembly committee meeting earlier Tuesday that Tokyo has not yet officially turned down Seoul's request for holding an Abe-Moon meeting on the sidelines of the G-20 summit. Jiji Press