South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will visit Japan from Sunday to Monday to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral relations and meet with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
It will be the first visit by Seoul’s top diplomat since the Park Geun-hye administration was inaugurated in February 2013. Yun planned to visit Tokyo in April 2013, but his visit was canceled after Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.
“The bilateral relationship has been in bad shape for years. In light of this, the minister’s visit to Japan will be meaningful in forging the mood to enhance the relationship,” a senior Seoul official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Yun plans to meet Kishida on Sunday afternoon to discuss a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues including North Korea’s escalating nuclear and missile threats, the ministry said in a press release.
Their meeting is also expected to touch on the issue of Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, the possibility of holding a bilateral summit and Japan’s bid to gain UNESCO World Heritage status for 23 sites from the Meiji-era industrialization.
Atop the agenda will be the issue of comfort women, a euphemism for former sex slaves who were forced by Japan to work at frontline brothels during World War II.
During a recent interview with The Washington Post, President Park Geun-hye said bilateral negotiations over the comfort women issue have yielded “considerable progress” and are now in the “final stage.”
Seoul has long demanded that Tokyo offer an explicit apology for the sexual slavery and legal compensation to Korean victims. Tokyo argues that all colonial-era issues including the comfort women issue were settled under a 1965 normalization pact.
As for Japan’s bid for World Heritage status, Yun is expected to reiterate Seoul’s stance that Tokyo should clearly present the fact that around 57,900 Koreans were believed to have been forced to work at seven of the sites.
On Monday, Yun is to attend a reception, arranged by the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo, to mark the 50th anniversary. It is speculated that a senior Tokyo official will read out Prime Minister Abe’s message of congratulations on the occasion.
On the same day, the Japanese Embassy in Seoul is also to hold the anniversary event where high-level South Korean and Japanese politicians are expected to attend. During the event, a senior Seoul official is expected to deliver President Park’s message.
Tokyo reportedly considers sending Fukushiro Nukaga as his special envoy to Korea.
The two separate anniversary events are expected to offer a much-needed momentum to enhance the bilateral relationship beset by the long-running historical and territorial feuds.
By Song Sang-ho (
sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
