In a meeting with Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Aiboshi on Monday, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol stressed the importance of restoring ties with Tokyo as soon as possible in a future-oriented manner.
The two meet at President-elect Yoon's office in Seoul, where the president-elect emphasizes the importance of communication between the two countries in order to address disagreements.
"If the political leaders, government officials, and citizens of the two nations continue to move forward with bilateral relations in a future-oriented manner, even if other issues appear challenging, they could be resolved successfully via conversation," Yoon told Aiboshi magazine. "I believe that relations between South Korea and Japan must be strengthened in a future-oriented manner and returned to a healthy relationship as urgently as they were in the past, and that both sides will have to put up significant effort."
Yoon went on to say that if the two countries engage with one other in a sincere manner, the differences in viewpoints and difficult issues that exist between the two countries will not be too difficult to overcome.
Their encounter comes at a time when the two countries are embroiled in a lengthy conflict over territorial and historical concerns arising from Japan's colonial domination over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Since December 2019, the two countries' top officials have not met in person to discuss anything.
Concerns have been raised in Washington about strained ties between the neighboring countries, as the United States attempts to strengthen trilateral cooperation with its Northeast Asian allies in the face of an assertive China and North Korea's rising military threats.
On the subject of nuclear weapons, the two talked about North Korea's recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, which was its first full ICBM test since 2017, and which marked the end of the country's self-imposed four-year moratorium on ICBM and nuclear testing.
Yoon called for greater cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan so that "North Korea will have conviction that there is nothing to gain from nuclear weapons," according to Yoon's spokesperson Kim Eun-hye. Yoon also called for greater cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
"Because North Korea's nuclear missile provocation poses a serious threat to the security of both Japan and Korea, as well as to the international community, we hope to continue to work closely with South Korea to promote stability and prosperity in East Asia," Aiboshi was quoted as saying by Kim as saying in a press statement.
During their discussion, Aiboshi stated that the recent phone call between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had taken place in a "pleasant environment."
Yoon spoke with Kishida on March 11, just two days after he was elected president of the United States. During their phone conversation, the two leaders pledged to work together to improve bilateral relations and to further expand trilateral cooperation with the United States.
