Japan will consider the release of a new document to mark the 20th anniversary in October of a joint declaration seeking to promote future-oriented relatio
Japan will consider the release of a new document to mark the 20th anniversary in October of a joint declaration seeking to promote future-oriented relations with South Korea, government sources said Wednesday.
The Japanese government is seeking to show that relations between Tokyo and Seoul have been improving. Arrangements will begin for a potential visit to Japan by South Korean President Moon Jae-in this year, the sources added.
Moon’s visit, if realized, would boost the likelihood that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the South Korea leader will jointly issue the document.
Wartime history has continued to cast a shadow over ties between the Asian neighbors. The issue of “comfort women,” the females who were forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels, has been a source of friction despite a 2015 bilateral agreement to “finally and irreversibly” settle it.
South Korea has been sounding out Japan about the possibility of issuing a new document. Japan, for its part, sees bilateral ties stabilizing despite the comfort women issue and judges it necessary to advance relations and strengthen coordination in handling North Korea’s nuclear and missile issues, the sources said.
