[Asia Economy Reporter Inho Yoo] President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held their first summit call on the 15th, but prospects for improving Korea-Japan relations remain bleak.
The two countries are showing confrontational stances over past issues including the Japanese military comfort women and forced labor, as well as other bilateral matters, making resolution difficult.
Above all, during this summit call, both sides merely reaffirmed their existing positions. After the call, Prime Minister Kishida told reporters that regarding forced labor and the Japanese military comfort women issues, “Based on Japan’s consistent stance on these matters, I strongly demanded an appropriate response from the Korean side.”
It appears that he reaffirmed the existing position that both the forced labor and comfort women issues were already resolved through the 1965 Claims Agreement and the 2015 comfort women agreement, and that Korea should propose a solution to ease the recent Korea-Japan conflict caused by compensation rulings.
The Blue House also stated in a written briefing, “Prime Minister Kishida explained Japan’s position on the forced labor and comfort women issues and evaluated the frank exchange of opinions between the two leaders,” which has been interpreted as both sides repeating their existing stances.
From a political perspective as well, there are indications that improving relations is difficult. Prime Minister Kishida is facing a general election on the 31st and a House of Councillors election scheduled for next summer.
Given the widespread anti-Korean sentiment throughout Japan, it is more likely that the Kishida Cabinet will maintain a confrontational stance with Korea to gain public support rather than rushing to improve Korea-Japan relations.
Korea, too, is unlikely to make significant concessions to Japan to improve relations, as it must hold a presidential election in March next year.
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