Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, stated that Japan and S. Korea are looking forward to mending the bilateral relations. (Image via The Straits Times)

Suga: S. Korea wants to restore bilateral relations with Japan

On Sunday, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of the Japanese government, Yoshihide Suga, said that Japan has seen that South Korea (S. Korea) is seeking ways to restore bilateral relations. The statement came after the Thursday meeting between the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, and his S. Korean counterpart, Lee Nak-yeon.

Speaking in Tokyo, Suga, the backbone of the Japanese government and also the closest aide to Abe, said that S. Korea believes that it is not lawful to leave the situations between the two countries as it is.

The S. Korean PM met Abe after attending the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito. Japan saw the meeting as the signal of peace between the two neighboring countries during the ongoing trade row.

When meeting Abe, Lee gave a letter from the President of S. Korea, Moon Jae-in. The letter states that Japan is an important partner for S. Korea in maintaining peace in the Northeast Asian region.

Furthermore, on Sunday, Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Kazuyoshi Akaba, met with his S. Korean counterpart, Park Yang-woo, in Hokkaido after the G-20 Summit of Tourism Ministers held from 25 October – 26 October. Both ministers agreed to maintain exchanges in culture and sport. Japan and S. Korea’s tourism percentage freefell during the trade row.

In 2018, the Supreme Court of S. Korea, demanded Japanese companies there to compensate for wartime labor during Japan’s invasion over the Korean Peninsula in the WWII era. The demand caused tension in bilateral relations. Japan restated that they had settled the wartime dispute with S. Korea in the 1965 treaty.

The tension led to the trade row between the two countries. Japan erased S. Korea from its “whitelist” and made it hard for the S. Korean tech industries to import essential chemicals for the smartphone and TV productions. S. Korea also did the same retaliatory action.

Source: https://bit.ly/2q1Gxpa