Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin in Tokyo on Tuesday, as the two countries seek progress in resolving a long-festering row over compensation for wartime labor that has pushed the neighbors’ relationship to a fresh low.
While the meeting with Kishida was seen as a positive sign for friendlier relations between the two countries — both sides agreed to meet again if ties further improve — Kishida and Park appeared to assiduously avoid concrete discussion about wartime labor and other contentious issues during their brief 20-minute meeting, which the Japanese side referred to as a “courtesy call.”
Bilateral ties have been strained in recent years, in part because of the unresolved dispute over wartime labor compensation, and Park’s three-day visit that began Monday offered a rare chance to make some headway on the issue. It also came just over a week after Kishida’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party cruised to victory in a parliamentary election, giving him the political capital needed to pursue any thaw in ties with Seoul.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.