President Moon Jae-in and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday talked over the phone to discuss the future direction of the Korea-Japan bilateral ties, focusing on unsettled history disputes such as the wartime sex slavery issue.
“President Moon talked with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the phone for the first time since taking office,” Yoon Young-chan, the newly appointed senior presidential secretary for public relations, said in a briefing.
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(Yonhap) |
During the 25-minute conversation, starting from 2:35 p.m., the two state chiefs exchanged their opinion on the future of their bilateral ties, policies concerning the Korean Peninsula and history disputes, he explained.
The president claimed that these historic controversies need to be addressed in a sincere manner so that they will not deter both states from stepping into a more mature relationship, according to Yoon.
“The reality is that the majority of our people are finding it hard to accept the agreement (on the co-called comfort women), and more time and effort is needed to solve this (problem),” he quoted the president as saying.
Moon did not, however, mention a renegotiation of the disputed deal, according to Cheong Wa Dae.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)
