Opposition party slams Yoon for ignoring history issues in summit with Kishida

President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a joint press conference at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Sunday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) blasted President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday for turning a blind eye to history issues in his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The two leaders held a summit in Seoul on Sunday, marking their second summit in less than two months, as the neighboring nations are firmly on course to the full restoration of long-frayed relations.

Bilateral relations have warmed significantly following Seoul's decision in March to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without contributions from Japanese firms.

The DP took a swipe at a remark Yoon made during the summit that "I think we should get out of the perception that Korea and Japan cannot take even a single step forward unless issues of the past are not completely settled."

"Why should the prerequisite for restoring the bilateral diplomacy be giving up on our history," DP spokesperson Kang Sun-woo said in a press briefing, adding the summit results reflect Yoon's stance to "completely disregard" the country's history and continue with "humiliation diplomacy."

The spokesperson also accused Yoon of failing to get a sincere apology from Kishida over Japan's wartime mobilization of Koreans for forced labor.

"The thoughtless remark today by President Yoon, who is oblivious to history, should be assessed as nothing but submissive diplomacy," Kang said.

In a separate message on Facebook, DP Chair Lee Jae-myung said the summit is the last chance to redress submissive diplomacy with Japan and urged Yoon to strive for national interests, saying, "Restoring shuttle diplomacy without safeguarding national interest only constitutes waste of national resources."

Yonhap