South Korea, Japan vow to cooperate on resolving issues with the North, but remain divided on ‘comfort women’
Tokyo has presented a list of concerns to Seoul that it wants covered when leaders from the two Koreas meet on April 27
South Korea and Japan on Wednesday vowed to work closely together on North Korea ahead of the looming inter-Korea summit, but their foreign ministers remained divided over long-standing issues of Japan’s wartime crimes and disputed islands.
Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono made a rare visit to Seoul armed with a list of issues Tokyo wants to push onto the agenda of the April 27 summit between North and South Korea.
At a time of frenetic diplomatic activity in northeast Asia – the North’s Kim Jong-un is due to meet with the leaders of both South Korea and the US – Japan has largely remained on the sidelines.
Tokyo has found itself forced to rely on the US and South Korea to tackle its concerns regarding the North, which last year test-fired several missiles that flew over Japan, sparking security fears.
Kono and his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha vowed “close communication and cooperation” to disarm the North and build peace on the flashpoint peninsula, Seoul’s foreign ministry said after their meeting in Seoul.