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Seoul reasserts fruitful Korea-Japan summit as prerequisite for Moon's visit to Tokyo

July 11, 2021 - 19:25 By Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in talks during a weekly meeting with key presidential aides at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Monday. (Cheong Wa Dae)

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae reiterated Sunday that the decision on President Moon Jae-in's potential attendance at the opening ceremony of the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games depends on whether the visit would guarantee a fruitful summit meeting between the two countries' leaders.

Cheong Wa Dae has left the door open for Moon's possible attendance at the opening ceremony set for July 23 and a summit meeting between Moon and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on that occasion.

The possibility of Moon's visit to Japan is reportedly getting slimmer, however, amid a wide gap of opinion between the countries over the nature of the envisioned summit.

"So far, we have talked (with Japan) about two conditions for Moon's Japan visit, a summit meeting and (related) results," a Cheong Wa Dae official told Yonhap News Agency. "Above all, there should be results (from the summit)."

Seoul has been seeking to arrange the Moon-Suga summit, with an eye to finding resolutions to thorny issues with the neighbor, such as Japan's export curbs on certain South Korean products as well as its planned release of radioactive water from a destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.

Japan, however, appears to be reluctant, with the country's Kyodo News reporting earlier in the day Suga's talks with foreign guests, including Moon, may be limited to about 15 minutes each due to time constraints.

The report also said Japan excludes the possibility of consultation or negotiations in the envisioned Seoul-Tokyo summit, only considering possible expression of its basic stance on major historical issues. (Yonhap)