South Korea’s Moon calls for Japan talks, separation of historical disputes from future ties

President Moon Jae-in said disagreements over Japan’s wartime past and ‘comfort women’ are holding back efforts to improve relations

He believes the Tokyo Olympics will be an opportunity to revitalise diplomacy, with talks involving South Korea, the US, North Korea and Japan

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South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during a ceremony to mark the 1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule, saying Seoul is always ready to sit down for talks with Tokyo on resolving issues of the past. Photo: AP

Published: 2:00pm, 1 Mar 2021Updated: 3:46pm, 1 Mar 2021

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for the decoupling of disputes over Japan’s wartime past from bilateral cooperation for future prosperity and peace, saying the past should not hold the two countries back.

His reconciliatory gesture, made in a speech marking the country’s 1919 pro-independence uprising against Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule, comes as the new US administration puts pressure on Seoul and Tokyo to improve ties to cope with a rising China and nuclear-armed North Korea.

“Korea and Japan have become very important neighbours to each other in all areas of the economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges,” Moon said.

The two countries have benefited from each other’s development over the last several decades, and this will continue. But mixing up issues stemming from the past with those affecting future development is an obstacle the two countries need to overcome, he added.

“This has impeded forward-looking development … we must not let the past hold us back. We have to concentrate more energy on future-oriented development while resolving issues of the past separately,” he said.

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