[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Foreign Minister Park Jin will visit Japan on the 18th to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa.
Although this is Park's first visit to Japan since taking office, it is expected to be difficult to present a solution to the forced labor compensation issue, the biggest problem in Korea-Japan relations, to the Japanese government, making it unlikely to achieve significant results.
According to diplomatic sources on the 16th, Minister Park will officially visit Japan from the 18th to the 20th, hold a Korea-Japan foreign ministers' meeting with Foreign Minister Hayashi, and discuss mutual interests such as Korea-Japan relations and the Korean Peninsula issue.
Park initially planned to visit Japan last month but postponed the schedule considering the political situation in Japan ahead of the House of Councillors election (voting on July 10).
The ministers are also scheduled to hold a "working dinner" to discuss current issues over dinner. This will be Park's first meeting with Foreign Minister Hayashi since taking office.
In May this year, when Foreign Minister Hayashi visited Korea to attend President Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration ceremony, they held talks, but at that time Park was still a nominee.
During the visit to Japan, Minister Park is also expected to express condolences for former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinz?, who was shot and killed on the 8th of this month.
It is also reported that Park is considering a meeting with Prime Minister Kishida.
In diplomatic circles, there is an expectation that Park's visit to Japan will be a diplomatic schedule seeking an opportunity to improve Korea-Japan relations.
A Korean foreign minister visiting Japan for bilateral talks is the first time in 4 years and 7 months since then-Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in December 2017.
Although a foreign minister visited Japan in November 2019 to attend the multilateral G20 foreign ministers' meeting, bilateral diplomatic visits to Japan have not taken place for a long time due to the deterioration of Korea-Japan relations.
Particular attention is focused on what discussions will take place regarding the compensation issue for forced labor victims during the Japanese colonial period, a highly contentious issue between Korea and Japan, triggered by Park's visit to Japan.
The Japanese government has argued that the Korean Supreme Court ruling that Japanese companies must compensate victims violates the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Agreement and has shown a stance that Korea must resolve this issue before Japan can respond to demands for improving Korea-Japan relations.
The Japanese government has shown interest in what solution the Korean side will propose from this perspective.
The Korean government is seeking a solution through a public-private consultative body involving victims' legal representatives, support groups, experts from academia, the legal and economic sectors, and former diplomats. Some victims have declared their refusal to participate in the consultative body.
At the second meeting of the public-private consultative body held on the 14th, no consensus was reached. It is reported that the victims' side expressed that even if a so-called "subrogation" method is chosen, where a third party creates a fund to compensate, the participation of the defendant companies is a red line.
Minister Park is likely to explain these efforts by the Korean government to the Japanese side, but the Japanese government is not expected to immediately work on improving Korea-Japan relations. This is because the Japanese government demands that the Korean government present a concrete solution to the forced labor compensation issue.
Accordingly, there is an analysis that a solution must be proactively derived in the public-private consultative body for Korea-Japan relations to improve.
An expert in diplomatic circles said, "The governments of Korea and Japan must continuously work to improve relations with the belief that improving and restoring relations is in their mutual interest," adding, "Finding a solution to the forced labor issue will be key."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
