South Korea's acting president, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang Mok, expressed hope Saturday that his nation and Japan can open a new chapter in their bilateral relationship by healing wounds of the past and celebrating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic normalization.
Choi made the remarks during a government ceremony commemorating the 1919 independence movement against Japan's colonial rule on behalf of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is mired in impeachment and criminal trials over his short-lived martial law declaration in early December.
As South Korea and Japan celebrate the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic normalization this year, Choi said he hopes "the two countries can heal the painful wounds of the past together and open a new chapter in their relationship," while reiterating the importance of bilateral cooperation as a pathway to respond to global challenges.
Bilateral ties between the two countries have recently experienced ups and downs, particularly after South Korea's Supreme Court in 2018 upheld rulings requiring Japanese companies to compensate South Korean plaintiffs for forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule.
However, relations improved following the announcement of a plan proposed by Yoon's administration in 2023 that offered compensation to plaintiffs through a government-backed fund, rather than seeking direct redress from Japanese companies.
Japan has maintained that all issues related to the colonial period were "completely and finally" resolved under a 1965 bilateral agreement that normalized diplomatic relations.
Referring to North Korea, Choi said its continued provocations are posing a grave threat to the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia as a whole.
The government will maintain a posture of military readiness based on the South Korea-U.S. alliance to deter North Korea's provocations, while keeping the door open to dialogue, he added.
North Korea has recently demolished a facility used for reunions of families separated by the 1950-1953 Korean War, built by the South in 2008.
© KYODO
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deanzaZZR
Let's see if jailed President Yoon is handed the Get Out of Jail Card sometime over the next 2 months. Until then nobody is listening to acting president (the title apparently does not deserve capitals) Choi.
Alan Harrison
One thing that I have always found in life is, that life is a lot easier and fruitful if one gets along with ones neighbour.
isabelle
I sincerely hope South Korea and Japan can get along too. The two countries have much more that unites than divides them, and must work together to fend off their aggressive, authoritarian neighbors of China, Russia, and North Korea.
The risk is that the DPK may wreck Japan relations if it gets in (especially if Lee Jae-myung manages to stay out of prison), just as the disastrous Moon did last time.
But I think the Korean people are finally seeing past the DPK's shameless anti-Japan rhetoric, and will not fall for it this time.
OssanAmerica
Looking more and more as if the south Korean people are recognizing that the anti-Japan posture has done and will do nothing, for South Korea, economically or strategically. Today it is clear to South Korea that should North Korea start any conflict Russia is going to be behind them. The security of South Korea requires smart calculated choices, not emotional historical drivel.
Agent_Neo
I wonder if the ultra-anti-Japanese Lee Jae-min will become president soon?
When most Koreans talk about friendship with Japan, it is premised on Japan apologizing and compensating for war prostitutes, apologizing and compensating for forced laborers, recognizing Takeshima as Korean territory, apologizing and compensating for the massacre of 6,000 Koreans in the Great Kanto Earthquake, and apologizing and compensating for the annexation of the Korean Peninsula.
It is not in Japan's national interest for Japan to go along with Korea's fantasy history.
Korea has been united as a country for 2,000 years under China as its suzerain.
It is too late now to become a superficial democracy and have no need for friendship with Japan or the United States.
garymalmgren
RE; Looking more and more as if the south Korean people are recognizing that the anti-Japan posture has done and will do nothing,
As long as the government controls the textbooks, they control the minds of the young.
South Korean textbooks blame Japan for many of the country's woes.
factchecker
Let's hope so. It's possible to like both countries. So the children stop bickering about the antics of their great grandparents 80+ years ago, move on and realise it's time to work together.