Moon, Abe in ‘friendly’ meeting at Asean event

SOU T H Korea n P re sident Moon Jae-i n a nd Japa nese Pr ime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday held t hei r f i rst ta lks for more than a year on t he sidel i nes of a reg iona l summit in Thailand, Moon’s of f ice sa id, wit h t he neig hbou rs’ relat ionsh ip i n d i re st ra its.

Ties bet ween Seou l a nd Tokyo – both of them US allies facing t he t win challenges of nuclea r-a rmed Nort h Korea and an increasingly assertive China – a re at rock-bottom over a d i spute r el at e d to Japa n’s use of forced labour during World War II, with the countries trading reta liator y sanctions.

Moon and Abe held a “ver y f r iend l y a nd ser ious” d ialog ue that lasted 11 minutes on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three summit in Bangkok, Ko Min-jung, the South’s president ia l spokeswoma n, told reporters.

But she did not indicate any concrete outcomes.

“The t wo leaders agreed on the view that Korea-Japan ties were i mpor t a nt a nd r ea ff i r med t he pr i nc iple t hat bi l at er a l i s sues shou ld be resolved t hrough dia log ue,” she said.

‘Ever y available means’

Moon proposed they review a higher-level meeting if necessar y, to which Abe responded that the neighbours should tr y to f ind a solution by using “e v e r y a v a i l a ble mea n s”, Ko said.

The meet i ng – t hei r f i rst one-on-one in 13 mont hs – comes a f ter Moon d id not attend t he coronation of t he n e w J a p a n e s e e mp e r o r Na r u h ito la st mont h, but sent t he pr i me minister i n h i s place, bea r i ng a let ter to Abe.

Sout h Korea n courts have made a s er ie s of r u l i ngs aga i nst Japa nese f i r ms i n recent months in cases stemming from historica l issues.

I n Ju l y, Japa n t ig htened e x por t c ont r ol s on t h r e e chemica ls essent ia l to key produc t s made by S out h Korean firms including Samsu ng. Seou l ha s ret a l iated with its trade measures and announcing the termination of a mi l it a r y i n for mat ionsharing agreement.

Tok yo says its decision was made on nat iona l secu r it y g rounds, but t he move was widely seen as a response to the compensation rulings.

Japa n says a l l repa rat ions claims from its 35-year colonia l rule were sett led under a 1965 treaty and an associated economic agreement made as t he c ou nt r ie s nor ma l i s e d relat ions.