Cheong Wa Dae piles pressure on Japan over summit talks

Cheong Wa Dae is upping pressure on Japan over summit talks as it has started discussions about President Moon Jae-in’s possible attendance at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics later this month.

Until last week, the presidential office had remained mum about the president’s Tokyo visit amid a flurry of news reports from Japan. But this week there has been a shift in tone as Moon’s key aides are starting to speak out that the ball is in Japan’s court.

“We are waiting for Japan to join related talks with dignity and respect,” Moon’s senior secretary for public communication, Park Soo-hyun, said in a radio interview Wednesday, criticizing Japan on the allegation of it going through the media without using official diplomatic channels.

“If the president visits Japan, it would be great to hold summit talks and make a breakthrough in the stalled diplomacy. I think not just us but also Japan would agree to this,” he added. “It’s Japan’s turn to respond.”

On Thursday, Lee Cheol-hee, senior secretary for political affairs, echoed the sentiment in a separate interview, saying: “We cannot move without any concrete results preconditioned. The security office is reviewing diverse possibilities.”

With the July 23 opening of the Tokyo Olympics nearing, keen attention is being paid to Moon’s possible visit to Tokyo. In recent weeks, related news reports citing Japanese government officials have been pouring in from Japan, but none of them have been confirmed by either government.

“At a time when we have not yet made our decision, how can we make an offer to Japan?” a Cheong Wa Dae official said on condition of anonymity, complaining about Japanese news reports that Cheong Wa Dae was reaching out to Japan for Moon’s Tokyo visit and summit talks.

Given that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Korea to attend the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and held a summit with Moon, it may be Moon’s turn to reciprocate, but uncertainties are growing amid strained bilateral ties over wartime history and trade.

Moon visited Tokyo in May 2018 for a trilateral meeting with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts. No Korean president has visited Japan for a bilateral summit since 2011.

Adding complexity to Moon’s deliberation are the security alliance with the US, hostile public sentiment here toward Japan and the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, Japan has not yet expressed its clear desire to mend ties.

Since the inauguration of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in September last year, Moon has sent a slew of diplomatic overtures to ease the yearlong tensions between the two countries. But Japan’s response has been lukewarm so far.

The two leaders met in-person for the first time at the G-7 summit in the UK last month, but their brief encounters did not lead to a bilateral meeting. They had tentatively agreed to hold a pull-aside meeting, but Japan unilaterally called it off at the last minute.

For now, French President Emmanuel Macron is the only head of state who has confirmed plans to attend the Tokyo Olympics. France will host the next summer Olympics in 2024 in Paris.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)