Japan foreign minister to attend South Korean President-elect Yoon’s inauguration to mend frayed ties
- Yoshimasa Hayashi’s presence next week at Yoon Suk Yeol’s oath-taking ceremony a sign of Tokyo’s will to set a new course in relations
- Warming ties between the two US allies would also be a welcome development for President Biden as he seeks their help to counter security threats posed by China
Kishida will send Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi to attend the swearing-in ceremony for South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, Japan’s Asahi newspaper and other media reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed government sources. Yoon’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comments, adding it does not comment on individual reports.
“Hayashi’s talks with the new South Korean top officials may be the beginning of the two countries mending ties,” Jin said.
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Warming ties between the two US allies would be a welcome development for Biden as he seeks their cooperation to counter security threats posed by China and North Korea, while securing supply chains for key goods such as semiconductors free from interference from Beijing.
Yoon, a conservative, has signalled he wants to take a hawkish diplomatic course, which would also be in line with some of the security priorities of Kishida’s conservative government.
In a bid to break the ice, Yoon dispatched a delegation of lawmakers and policy experts to Japan in late April that met with Kishida and sought to have him attend the ceremony.
In a reminder of the simmering tensions, a district court in South Korea last week ordered the sale of patent held by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to pay compensation to a Korean woman in a case related to conscripted workers at factories during the colonial period, Kyodo News reported on Tuesday, citing a lawyer for the plaintiff.
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Japan has said all matters of compensation have been settled decades ago by a treaty between the two while Moon’s government argues Tokyo hasn’t done enough to properly atone.
Due to procedural matters in these cases, any decision by a court could take months, if not years, to actually be implemented.
Yoon’s camp has indicated it may seek a two-track approach with Japan – trying to improve cooperation on security, while pressing Tokyo to show what Seoul sees as greater accountability for widespread harm to millions of Koreans before and during World War II.