[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Although the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan gathered together for the first time in a while, the outlook for Korea-Japan relations remains bleak.
This is because the differences in positions between the two countries are very large on current issues such as historical disputes and the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Diplomatic experts view the Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting held on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) Foreign and Development Ministers' Meeting as having little significance except that it was the first face-to-face meeting between Minister Chung Eui-yong and Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu.
However, it is worth noting that both countries share the recognition that the deteriorated relationship should not be left as it is.
Regarding the Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting held in London, UK, on the 5th (local time), Foreign Minister Motegi stated, "We were able to share the recognition that Korea-Japan relations should not be left as they are."
According to Kyodo News, Foreign Minister Motegi made this remark during an online press conference held after the meeting with Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, adding that there was an honest exchange of opinions between the two foreign ministers.
Although the ministers expressed differing views on contentious issues such as the Japanese military comfort women, forced laborers during the Japanese colonial period, and the ocean discharge of contaminated water (referred to by the Japanese government as treated water) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, they agreed to continue diplomatic communication to improve Korea-Japan relations.
They also agreed on the importance of Korea-Japan and Korea-US-Japan cooperation in responding to North Korea and maintaining regional stability.
However, the Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting yielded almost no concrete results. As expected, the positions of both sides remained parallel on issues including comfort women, forced labor, and the contaminated water discharge. The only consensus was to "continue communication between diplomatic authorities going forward."
Even the photo of the two ministers standing side by side after the meeting shows cold expressions without a handshake. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official described it as "a photo that perfectly represents the current state of Korea-Japan relations."
Minister Motegi had not even made a phone call to Minister Chung from Chung’s inauguration in February until the bilateral meeting on the 5th of this month, leading some Japanese media to criticize it as a "diplomatic faux pas."
The Japanese government has maintained a cold stance, insisting that "the South Korean government must rectify the illegal status under international law" regarding South Korean court rulings ordering compensation from the Japanese government in lawsuits related to comfort women and forced labor.
Japan claims that the forced labor issue was resolved by the 1965 Korea-Japan Agreement and the comfort women issue by the 2015 comfort women agreement, and that any rulings contrary to these agreements violate international law.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that "it is difficult to say that a conciliatory atmosphere has emerged from the bilateral meeting," quoting a Foreign Ministry official who said, "Unless concrete measures to correct (the international law violations) are shown, progress cannot be made."
Accordingly, while normal diplomatic communication has just barely been restored, it is assessed that there is still a long way to go to resolve the numerous pending issues such as the forced labor and compensation rulings for Japanese military comfort women.
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