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| Shigeki Takizaki, center, a Japanese diplomat handling Asia-Pacific affairs, arrives at the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in downtown Seoul, Wednesday, for working-level discussions with his South Korean counterpart Kim Jung-han ahead of Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon's upcoming visit to Tokyo next week. Yonhap |
By Kim Yoo-chul
South Korea and Japan held working-level talks Wednesday afternoon on arranging a brief one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo.
Seoul's foreign ministry said Kim Jung-han, director-general for Asian and Pacific Affairs at the ministry, met with his Japanese counterpart Shigeki Takizaki at the ministry's headquarters in downtown Seoul.
"Key issues discussed at the meeting were how to seek better ways to address issues of mutual interest in the aftermath of Japan's imposition of export controls on industrial components crucial to Korea's manufacturing sector. Talks also covered possible ways to revive bilateral security cooperation," a foreign ministry official said.
The official added whether to hold a brief direct encounter next week between the two prime ministers on the sidelines of Lee's attendance of Japanese Emperor Naruhito's coronation wasn't a priority for the meeting.
"But because Prime Minister Lee will visit Tokyo, they've talked about possible issues relating to Lee's attendance," the official said. On a related note, sources at Cheong Wa Dae said Prime Minister Lee would convey President Moon Jae-in's messages to Abe when they meet. Lee will attend a dinner banquet hosted by Abe on Oct. 23.
Before the director-general discussions, Seoul's chief nuclear envoy Lee Do-hoon held a luncheon with Takizaki, who also serves as Tokyo's chief nuclear envoy.
South Korea and Japan are both hoping Prime Minister Lee's visit to Tokyo would improve bilateral relations. Seoul was asking Tokyo to withdraw its export curbs as a prerequisite to extending the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) before the intel-sharing pact expires next month.
GSOMIA is a symbol of the trilateral alliance between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo, which is renewed automatically each year unless either of the parties announces its decision not to renew it. Washington officials have been demanding Seoul extend the military pact to closely and effectively monitor any suspicious North Korean activities. The North recently launched its advanced submarine-launched ballistic missile.
Tokyo was insisting the South Korean Supreme Court's ruling last year, which ordered Japanese companies to compensate surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced laborer, was a breach of the 1965 treaty normalizing Seoul-Tokyo ties. Seoul said the treaty doesn't cover individual claims.
Prime Minister Lee is a former Tokyo correspondent of one of Seoul's leading vernacular dailies, Dong-A Ilbo. He is known to speak Japanese fluently and has an extensive human network in Japan. As a rare move, Lee will use a presidential plane for his trip to Tokyo. More than 50 reporters from 35 South Korean media outlets plan to accompany the prime minister to Tokyo.
"Once Lee's meeting with Abe happens, it's highly unlikely for big announcements to follow. Seoul and Tokyo will keep the momentum of dialogue alive in further narrowing differences over pending issues," a source at Cheong Wa Dae said. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha agreed with her Japanese counterpart Motegi, earlier this month at the United Nations, to keep diplomatic channels open for resolving issues of mutual interest.
