Recalled Japanese envoy to return to Seoul

Japan said Monday it plans to return its ambassador to South Korea to Seoul on Tuesday amid lingering tension over a statue representing Korean women forced into wartime sex slavery.

But Japan’s Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the country was “at least at this point” not considering reopening negotiations on a currency swap deal intended to stabilize the Korean currency in the event of a financial crisis.

Yasumasa Nagamine was recalled home in January alongside Japanese Consul General in Busan Yasuhiro Morimoto in protest against the installment of a new “comfort women” statue in front of its consulate general in the southern port city, which Tokyo argues runs counter to a 2015 bilateral settlement on the sex slavery dispute.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry officials said they have also been informed on the envoy’s reinstatement, which they said would facilitate closer consultations between the two countries.

The decision reflects Tokyo’s need to collect information on next month’s presidential election in South Korea and prepare for the ensuing launch of a new government, while maintaining high-level intelligence-sharing and close communication with Seoul on North Korea’s threats, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said.

“We have been lodging complaints and pressing the current administration on the statue issue but could not get the results we sought,” Kishida was quoted as telling reporters.

“Accordingly, we’ve concluded that (Nagamine) needs to return and strongly urge acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn to ensure the settlement’s compliance including under the next government,” he said, adding a meeting with Hwang is currently being arranged.

Following the memorial’s erection late December, the Foreign Ministry here urged a Busan district office in charge of its handling to move it to a nearby public park or elsewhere, citing international law requiring a host country to protect diplomatic missions. But the office, which initially removed the statue due to a violation of domestic rules, eventually backed down in the face of citizens’ frenzied resistance.

Tokyo added to the tension with territorial provocations, stipulating its claim to South Korean easternmost islets of Dokdo in educational guidelines. Kishida has also renewed the assertion himself after a provincial assembly here floated a plan to install a statue on the islets.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)