Is South Korea changing its calculus over Japan as Moon Jae-in counts down his days in office?
- With just over a year left in his term, the president has signalled a willingness for talks with Tokyo – though reconciliation is seen as tricky after years of distrust
- An analyst says closer South Korea-Japan ties will ring alarm bells in China, which may respond by trying to drive a wedge between the sides and their relations with the US
During a 2018 ceremony to mark the 99th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, Moon pointed to Japan’s territorial claim to Dokdo – a pair of tiny islets in the Sea of Japan – and its insistence that the issue of Korean women forced into wartime sexual slavery had been resolved as proof Tokyo had yet to “squarely face the truth of history and justice”.
This year, the president used the anniversary to look forwards instead, with an address that was conciliatory while also warning that ties between Seoul and Tokyo should not be held hostage to the past.
“The Korean government is always ready to sit down and have talks with the Japanese government,” Moon said on Monday, stressing the need for the neighbours to “concentrate more energy on future-oriented development while resolving issues of the past separately”.
“I am confident that if we put our heads together in the spirit of trying to understand each other’s perspectives, we will also be able to wisely resolve issues of the past,” he said.
01:29
South Korea’s ‘comfort women’ statues featuring PM Abe ‘lookalike’ spark anger in Japan
Experts say Moon’s outreach, after years of playing up tensions with Tokyo, reflects a changing calculus in Seoul as the South Korean leader faces a narrowing window to lock in gains from his inter-Korean peace efforts and a new US administration determined to buttress security cooperation between its allies.
