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South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin (left) poses for a photo with his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi ahead of an hour-long summit on July 18 at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Tokyo. (AP/Yonhap News)

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi for the first time since taking office on Monday. The two agreed to speed up discussions to quickly resolve key pending issues between the two countries, including the issue of compensation for victims of forced labor during the Japanese colonial period.

But as the two countries have yet to come closer to an agreement regarding their position on how to resolve the forced labor issue, considered a “conundrum of conundrums,” it’s unclear whether South Korea-Japan relations will see swift improvement.

Park met with Hayashi for an hour Monday afternoon at the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Ikura Guest House in Tokyo, continuing his discussion with his Japanese counterpart for an additional hour and a half during dinner.

Afterward, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement, stating, “Park mentioned that he will make efforts to come up with a desirable solution before the liquidation procedure related to the ruling regarding forced labor is carried out, and the two sides agreed that an early resolution is necessary for the issue.” The statement also added that the two ministers “agreed to speed up discussions including ministerial ones for the swift resolution of all pending issues between the two countries.”

The last time the foreign minister of South Korea or Japan traveled to their counterpart’s country for a formal bilateral meeting was in April 2018.

Park reportedly told Hayashi what was discussed during the two meetings of the public-private consultative body formed by the South Korean government to deal with the issue of liquidation of Japanese corporate assets following the Supreme Court of Korea’s ruling in October 2018 regarding compensation for victims of forced labor — the most pressing matter in South Korea-Japan relations currently. The meetings were each held on July 4 and Thursday.

“We believe [Park’s] detailed explanation of what was discussed during the public-private consultative group’s meetings itself was extremely meaningful. In addition to [South Korean] public opinion and the victims, another party involved in the issue’s resolution is none other than Japan,” an official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. “We plan to seek a solution by sharing opinions with Japan moving forward.”

The official continued, “Both South Korea and Japan are of the same, stern attitude. Director-generals of both countries will carry out discussions, while foreign ministers — head diplomats — will also pursue direct communication. It’s safe to say shuttle diplomacy between foreign ministers has commenced in earnest with the recent ministerial meeting.”

In other words, South Korea and Japan seem to have confirmed each other’s resolution to find a solution through “proactive dialogue.”

During meetings of the public-private consultative body earlier, the legal representatives of victims of forced labor as well as members of victims support groups repeatedly stressed that offending companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel should sincerely apologize to the aging victims and participate in the compensation process. However, the Japanese government has been reiterating its position that the issue of forced labor was completely resolved through the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations, while evading any mention of an apology, the key demand put forth by the victims.

During Monday’s meeting, other pending issues that may lead to the expansion of cooperation between South Korea and Japan were also discussed. Specifically, it’s highly likely that opinions were exchanged regarding the normalization of the South Korea-Japan GSOMIA, a military intelligence sharing pact, which Park mentioned during last month’s South Korea-US foreign ministers’ meeting, and the scrapping of Japan’s export regulations against South Korea, which South Korea has consistently called for. The South Korean Foreign Ministry also stated that Park emphasized overhauling institutional foundations for “revitalizing exchange, including visa exemptions.”

As the two governments agreed to seek an early resolution of issues through dialogue, it is expected that the South Korean government will wrap up discussions within the public-private consultative group in August and begin full-fledged negotiations with the Japanese government based on the conclusion reached by the group. The process is projected to inevitably lead to dispute.

Park is scheduled to pay a visit to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday. He is also scheduled to offer his condolences to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who recently died.

By Kim So-youn, Tokyo correspondent

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