Korea, Japan to restore cooperation on 'common interests': Yoon

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Korea, Japan to restore cooperation on 'common interests': Yoon

Published: 21 Mar. 2023, 11:04 Updated: 21 Mar. 2023, 11:05

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks on the normalization of Korea-Japan relations at a Cabinet meeting held at the presidential office in Yongsan, central Seoul, Tuesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korea and Japan will swiftly restore consultative bodies discussing common interests between the two countries, President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a televised Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

Yoon during the meeting explained the results of his bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his trip to Tokyo last Thursday and Friday and plans to promote bilateral cooperation in various fields such as security, economy and culture.

“We have confirmed that we are the closest neighbors and partners to cooperate in pursuing common interests in security, economy and the global agenda,” said Yoon, as countries that “share the universal values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law.”

Yoon recollected the deteriorated bilateral relations between the two countries in recent years, noting that “Korea-Japan relations have been neglected to the brink of catastrophe.”

He blamed the previous administration for neglecting relations with Japan but admitted he could have done the same.

“However, I thought that if I tried to incite hostile nationalism and anti-Japanese sentiment and use it for domestic politics, leaving behind the grave international situation, I would be abandoning my duties as president,” said Yoon.

Regarding his government’s decision to compensate victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor through third-party compensation plan, a Seoul-backed public foundation, he said it was the best “compromise” under the given circumstances.

“We must face the past and remember it,” said Yoon, addressing Korea’s pain from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. “But we shouldn't get caught up in the past.”

He also noted that in his summit with Kishida, the two governments said it will inherit the stances of previous governments on historical perceptions, including a 1998 joint statement between Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

Yoon said the two governments will soon restore intergovernmental consultative bodies between the two countries, including strategic dialogue between diplomatic and economic authorities.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]