Tokyo gives frosty look at Moon’s call for dialogue

November 6, 2019

Tokyo--Japan showed a frosty attitude Tuesday toward South Korean President Moon Jae-in's call for dialogue, as he proposed no acceptable solution over wartime labor during his talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"Our stance of demanding wise action from the South Korean side (to break the deadlock on the issue) hasn't changed," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.

Suga made the comment a day after Abe and Moon held their first one-on-one talks in about a year, which lasted about 10 minutes.

"The prime minister fully conveyed our country's basic position" during the chat in a Bangkok suburb on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related summits, Suga said.

Asked about the possibility that the two leaders will have a full-fledged bilateral summit when they attend a three-way summit with China next month, the top government spokesman said, "Nothing has been decided."

Suga declined to comment on South Korea's announcement that Abe and Moon had the conversation "in a very friendly and earnest atmosphere."

At a separate press conference Tuesday, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi was asked whether the Abe-Moon chat was a step forward in improving the bilateral ties. "It's difficult to give such great credit," Motegi answered.

On Moon's call for high-level talks, Motegi said, "What we discuss is more important than the level at which we have talks."

Meanwhile, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, urged the government to continue dialogue with South Korea to mend fences.

"Countries around the world are watching Japan's relationships with its neighbors," said Nikai, adding that the government should certainly make proactive efforts.

Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi, Abe's coalition partner, also commented on the first Abe-Moon talks since November 2018. "We hope that every opportunity will be taken to help find a path to solving challenges (between Japan and South Korea)," Yamaguchi said.

But an aide to Abe said, "There's no point unless South Korea makes a decision to correct its violation of the Japan-South Korea (war-related) claim rights agreement."

Japan says that recent South Korean court rulings against Japanese companies over wartime labor violated the 1965 bilateral agreement.

Still, some in the Japanese government view Moon's dialogue offer as a sign of softening his stance toward Japan.

Now, the focus is whether Seoul will actually let its military information-sharing pact with Japan expire at the end of Nov. 22 as it decided, and whether it will allow the South Korean assets of the Japanese companies to be sold to pay compensation to the plaintiffs in the wartime labor lawsuits.

The Japanese and South Korean defense ministers are expected to have talks later this month on the sidelines of an expanded ASEAN meeting. Abe and Moon will attend a three-way summit with China in December. Jiji Press