President of S. Korea, Moon Jae-in. (Image via Asia Times)

Moon Jae-in: Tokyo Olympics will mend diplomacy in Korean Peninsula

On Monday, the President of South Korea (S. Korea), Moon Jae-in, stated that the Tokyo Olympics might open an opportunity to opening talks between the N. Korea and the U.S, and Japan and both South and North Korea. Moon said that the Olympics will be another solution to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Addressing the 102nd anniversary of the Independence Movement Day in Seoul on 1 March, Moon asserted that despite the grave condition of their bilateral relations, S. Korea will lend a hand to Japan in order to hold the Summer Olympics successfully, which was postponed in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Previously, the trilateral relations between N. Korea, S. Korea, and Japan deteriorated in 2019 due to the failed denuclearization talks with the U.S. Looking back at the 2018 Winter Olympics, S. Korea wants the upcoming Summer Olympics to mend the diplomacy with N. Korea amid the COVID-19 pandemic and S. Korea's isolation from the outside world.

Meanwhile, the wartime history of Japan's invasion of the Korean Peninsula in 1910-1945 still causes the relations between Japan and S. Korea to never fully recover. Previously in January 2021, S. Korea wanted Japan to compensate 12 comfort women who once enslaved in Japan's wartime brothels, a follow-up to the 2018's order.

Both orders were denied by Japan, saying that the matter has been resolved through the 1965 and 2015 treaties.

Source: https://bit.ly/2MGU7KC