G20 summit: hopes fade for Japan-Korea breakthrough as Abe-Moon talks ruled out

Failure of the two sides to even agree to a brief discussion on the sidelines of the talks in Osaka underlines the depths to which ties have sunk

Historical issues lie at the heart of rift, including Japan’s use of South Korean ‘comfort women’ and recent lawsuits brought by former forced labourers

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at an Apec summit. The two leaders will not be meeting at the G20. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 4:31pm, 26 Jun 2019Updated: 8:57pm, 26 Jun 2019

Any lingering hopes that tensions between Japan and South Korea might be smoothed over at the G20 summit in Osaka have been dashed, with both Tokyo and Seoul confirming the two nations’ leaders will not be holding talks.

An official of the South Korean presidential Blue House said while Seoul was “always” ready for discussions with Japan, Tokyo did not appear to be in a similar position.

That came after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the weekend he would be too busy to meet his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in at the two-day event, which begins on Thursday.

“Because I am the host of the G20 summit, schedules are full,” Abe said.

The Chosun newspaper reported on Wednesday that the US State Department had tried to get Seoul and Tokyo to mend frayed ties, but the two leaders could not even agree to an informal “pull-aside” on the sidelines. The Korean and Japanese governments blamed busy schedules and each other.

The failure of the two sides to even agree to a brief discussion on the sidelines of the talks underlines the depths to which ties have sunk, analysts say.

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