“The relationship is still far from full restoration, given that the leaders from the two nations have not held a summit. But as bilateral exchanges have increased, I think that the relationship is moving toward the restoration to a great extent.”
“I sense that the atmosphere within the Abe administration seems to have changed a little bit over its thoughts about the wording, so I think that Abe’s statement may contain the language that we demand. As this year marks the 50th anniversary, I will do my best to help restore the strained relationship in a full-fledged manner.”
- Yoo Heung-soo, Korea ambassador to Japan
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yoo Heung-soo holds a press conference over the Seoul-Tokyo relations in Seoul on April 3, 2015. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea and Japan appear to be on a path to mending bilateral ties long strained amid territorial and historical rows, while some hurdles have yet to be cleared, Seoul’s ambassador to Tokyo said Friday.
Relations between the neighboring countries have plunged to their lowest level in recent years as Japan is reluctant to apologize for its sexual enslavement of Korean women for its troops during World War II.
The issue of Japan’s wartime sex slaves is the main source of diplomatic tension between the two historical rivals due to Japan’s refusal to make a sincere apology.
Tokyo has claimed that all grievances related to its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were settled through a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral ties.
Ambassador Yoo Heung-soo Yoo said there has been “gradual” progress over the two countries’ talks on sex slaves.
Since April last year, Seoul and Tokyo have held talks on sex slaves, but there has been no substantive progress so far.
“I think if meaningful discussions are accumulated, there will be a very meaningful meeting,” the ambassador said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to unveil a fresh statement in August to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Abe is also scheduled to deliver a speech at a joint session of the U.S. Congress on April 29.
Abe said that he will uphold landmark statements that apologized for Japan’s wartime history — the Kono Statement in 1993 and the Murayama Statement in 1995.
But he also added that he may not use the key words in those statements such as a recognition of aggression and apology, sparking speculation that Abe may water down the spirit of such statements to gloss over Japan’s wartime history.
“If the key words are omitted, it will be hard for South Korea to recognize the statement as a sincere apology,” Yoo said.
He said it is hard to know what wording Abe will use for his statement, but he believes the prime minister will make overall comments of apology for the wartime history.
Touching on speculation over Abe’s possible visit to a war shrine for an April festival, Yoo projected that Abe will not make the trip.
Abe visited the Yasukuni war shrine in December 2013, sparking fierce criticism from Seoul and Beijing, which have a shared history with Japan. The war shrine honors 14 Class-A war criminals, and is considered by many a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
But Yoo added that there are still factors that potentially aggravate the relationship such as Japan’s review of its school textbooks.
Japan is set to unveil results of an examination of textbooks for middle school students in early April.
The envoy said the move is widely expected to spark criticism from Seoul as all 18 textbooks are seen as containing Tokyo’s repeated territorial claims to Seoul’s easternmost islets of Dokdo.
Yoo described the current Seoul-Tokyo ties as hearing the sound of ice melting at the start of spring.
(Yonhap)
