President Moon and Japan's Kishida Hold First Phone Talk Today... Will It Open a New Chapter in Korea-Japan Relations?

President Moon, the 7th Foreign Leader to Call Since Kishida's Inauguration
First Call Two Days Later Than During Suga's Term

▲President Moon Jae-in (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to have his first phone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on the 14th, Kyodo News reported on the same day.

Kyodo News, citing multiple Japanese government sources, stated that the two leaders are adjusting their schedules to hold a phone conversation on that day. If the call takes place, it will be the first contact between the South Korean and Japanese leaders since Prime Minister Kishida took office on the 4th.

President Moon will be the seventh foreign leader to speak with Prime Minister Kishida since his inauguration.

Previously, starting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the 5th, the day after his inauguration, Kishida spoke for about 20 to 30 minutes each with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 7th, Chinese President Xi Jinping on the 8th, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the 13th.

The last contact between the South Korean and Japanese leaders was when former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide met President Moon in person at the G7 summit held in the UK in June.

Former Prime Minister Suga, who took office in September last year, had his first phone call with President Moon on the ninth day of his inauguration.

Accordingly, if Prime Minister Kishida and President Moon have their call on this day, the timing of their first call will be two days later compared to when former Prime Minister Suga took office.

During their first call, the two leaders are expected to exchange views on various bilateral issues, including the compensation lawsuits related to forced labor victims and comfort women.

On the 13th, Prime Minister Kishida stated at the House of Councillors (the upper house of the National Diet) plenary session that the Japan-South Korea relationship cannot be left as it is, but "there is no immediate breakthrough in sight."

He added, "I strongly urge the South Korean side to present an acceptable solution as soon as possible to normalize Japan-South Korea relations," reaffirming Japan's existing stance on bilateral issues.

This reaffirmed the Japanese government's previous claim that the South Korean Supreme Court ruling recognizing Japanese companies' compensation responsibility violates international law, as the compensation issue for forced labor victims was resolved by the 1965 Japan-South Korea Claims Agreement.

Prime Minister Kishida led the Japanese side's negotiations as Foreign Minister during the Japan-South Korea comfort women agreement reached in December 2015 under the Park Geun-hye administration.