South Korea is considering sending a high-level official, potentially Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, to Japan to explore ways to enhance bilateral ties and to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of their relationship, Seoul officials said Wednesday.
“On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the normalization of the bilateral relationship, we are considering sending an ‘appropriate’ high-level official to Japan,” an official at Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said on condition of anonymity. “But nothing has been determined yet on that issue.”
With the growing talk of Yun visiting Japan, speculation has persisted that he may attend a ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary in Tokyo and hold a meeting with his counterpart Fumio Kishida, during which the ministers can touch on the possibility of holding a bilateral summit.
Since Yun was inaugurated in 2013, he has never visited Japan due to diplomatic tensions over historic and territorial issues. Yun planned to visit Tokyo in April 2013, but his visit was canceled after Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso paid tribute to Japanese war dead at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.
Along with Yun, acting Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan is being cited as a Seoul official who could potentially visit Japan to attend the anniversary ceremony. Observers say whether Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will attend it will be a critical factor for Seoul to determine its representative to the anniversary event.
Meanwhile, Seoul and Tokyo plan to hold the eighth round of director general-level talks over the issue of “comfort women,” a euphemism for sex slaves who were forced by Japan to serve in its frontline military brothels.
Launched last April, the two sides have held seven rounds of talks in Tokyo. But there has been no critical progress in their efforts to address the issue. Seoul has demanded Tokyo offer an explicit apology and compensation to Korean victims, while Tokyo has argued that the issue was already settled under a 1965 bilateral treaty that normalized the two countries’ relations.
