SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 Japan\u2019s prime minister expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan\u2019s colonial rule, as he and his South Korean counterpart on Sunday renewed resolve to overcome historical grievances and strengthen cooperation in the face of shared challenges such as North Korea\u2019s nuclear program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Comments by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol \u2014 their second meeting in less than two months \u2014 were closely watched in South Korea, where many still harbor strong resentment against Japan\u2019s 1910-45 colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yoon has faced domestic criticism that he had preemptively made concessions to Tokyo without getting corresponding steps in return. Kishida\u2019s statement, which avoided a new, direct apology over the colonization but still sympathized with the Korean victims, suggests he felt pressure to say something to maintain momentum for an effort to improve ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd personally, I have strong pain in my heart as I think of the extreme difficulty and sorrow that many people had to suffer under the severe environment in those days,\u201d Kishida told a joint news conference with Yoon, referring to the Japanese colonial period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he believes \u201cit is my responsibility as prime minister of Japan to cooperate with\u201d Yoon to forge stronger relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida arrived in South Korea earlier Sunday for a two-day visit, which reciprocates a\u00a0mid-March trip to Tokyo\u00a0by Yoon and marks the first exchange of visits between the leaders of the Asian neighbors in 12 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The back-to-back summits were largely meant to resolve the countries\u2019 bitter disputes caused by\u00a0the 2018 court rulings in South Korea\u00a0that ordered two Japanese companies to financially compensate some of their aging former Korean employees for colonial-era forced labor. Japan has refused to abide by the verdicts, arguing that all compensation issues were already settled when the two countries normalized ties in 1965.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wrangling led to the countries downgrading each other\u2019s trade status and Seoul\u2019s previous liberal government threatening to spike a military intelligence-sharing pact. Their strained ties complicated U.S. efforts to build a stronger regional alliance to better cope with rising Chinese influence and North Korean nuclear threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March, however, Yoon\u2019s conservative government took a\u00a0major step toward mending the ties\u00a0by announcing it would use local funds to compensate the forced labor victims without demanding contributions from Japanese companies. Later in March, Yoon traveled to Tokyo to meet with Kishida, and the two agreed to resume leadership-level visits and other talks. Their governments have since taken steps to withdraw their economic retaliatory steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yoon\u2019s push, however, drew strong backlash from some of the forced labor victims and his liberal rivals at home, who have demanded direct compensation from the Japanese companies. Yoon has defended his move, saying greater cooperation with Japan is required to jointly tackle North Korea\u2019s advancing nuclear program, the intensifying U.S.-China strategic rivalry and global supply chain challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe should stay away from a thinking that we must not make a step forward because our history issues aren\u2019t settled completely,\u201d Yoon said Sunday. He said that 10 out of the 15 former forced laborers or their families involved in the 2018 rulings had accepted compensation under Seoul\u2019s third-party reimbursement plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida said: \u201cI\u2019m struck by the fact that many people, despite their painful memories from the past, opened their hearts for the future as measures by the South Korean government related to (the fund) move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida also reaffirmed his government upholds the positions of previous Japanese administrations on the colonization issue, including the landmark 1998 joint declaration by Tokyo and Seoul, but didn\u2019t make a new apology. In that declaration, then-Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said: \u201cI feel acute remorse and offer an apology from my heart\u201d over the colonial rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japanese governments have expressed remorse or apologies over the colonial period numerous times. But some Japanese officials and politicians have occasionally made comments that have been accused of whitewashing Tokyo\u2019s wartime aggressions, prompting Seoul to urge Tokyo to make new, more sincere apologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ahead of his summit with Yoon, Kishida and his wife, Yuko Kishida, visited the national cemetery in Seoul, where they burned incense and paid a silent tribute before a memorial. Buried or honored in the cemetery are mostly Korean War dead, but include Korean independence fighters during the period of Japanese rule. Kishida was the first Japanese leader to visit the place in 12 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKishida\u2019s comments about Koreans who suffered under Japanese colonialism may be criticized for not being more specific about historical perpetrators and more apologetic toward historical victims,\u201d Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said. \u201cBut Kishida did visit South Korea\u2019s national cemetery and said that his heartfelt views, respect for the past, and recognition of current global challenges produce a sense of responsibility for improving Seoul-Tokyo relations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yoon said talks among Seoul, Tokyo and Washington are underway to implement their earlier agreement on a faster exchange of information on North Korean missile tests. Yoon said he and Kishida reaffirmed that North Korea\u2019s nuclear and missile programs pose a grave threat to the two countries and the rest of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In late April, Yoon made a state visit to the United States and agreed with President Joe Biden to reinforce deterrence capabilities against North Korea\u2019s nuclear threats. During a joint news conference, Biden thanked Yoon \u201cfor your political courage and personal commitment to diplomacy with Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yoon, Biden and Kishida are expected to hold a trilateral meeting later this month on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meetings in Hiroshima to discuss North Korea, China\u2019s assertiveness and Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. Yoon was invited as one of eight outreach nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida said he and Yoon would pay respects before a memorial for Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima. In another apparent conciliatory measure, Kishida said Japan will allow South Korean experts to visit and inspect a planned release of treated but still radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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