Korean President Park Geun-hye claps with Korean and Japanese dignitaries as they attended a reception marking the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties of the two countries at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on June 22. 

President Park delivers her speech at the 50th anniversary event in Seoul in which she showed her intention to mend relations with Japan, which have been soured in recent years. 

A scene of the 50th Korean-Japanese anniversary reception, attended by President Park. (Photos on the courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae)

President Park Geun-hye and her Japanese counterpart Prime Minister Shinzo Abe showed their determination to mend relations, which have soured in recent years, as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties on June 22.

President Park attended a reception to celebrate the 50th anniversary in Seoul, hosted by the Japanese Embassy in Korea, while Japanese Prime Minister Abe did the same at an anniversary event at the Korean Embassy in Tokyo. 

At her commemorative speech at the event, President Park said, “This year, marking the 50th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic ties, is a historic opportunity for the two countries to move forward. It is important for the countries to put the heavy burden of the past behind them for the sake of reconciliation and co-prosperity.” 

At the anniversary event in Tokyo, President Park said, "Korea and Japan should make this year a turning point for moving forward for the future of new cooperation and co-prosperity. This is also our obligation for future generations.”Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se read Park's message. 

At his speech at the event in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Abe stressed the need to develop mutual trust and relations, saying that Korea and Japan are important neighbors. Earlier, Prime Minister Abe said, “I hope to make efforts with President Park to mend and develop relations toward the next half decade for people of the two countries and next generations.” He made the remarks during his meeting with Korean Foreign Minister Yoon, who made a courtesy call to the Japanese prime minister. 

Abe said, “I’m very pleased to meet Minister Yoon at a meaningful day marking the 50th anniversary of normalizing ties and for each of the heads of state of the two countries to participate in each other’s anniversary event in Seoul and Tokyo.”

Minister Yoon delivered President Park’s message, expressing the hope to make this year the first year of the two countries’ “new future,” the Korean Foreign Ministry said. Minister Yoon expressed the hope that the spirit of dialogue and reconciliation Japan demonstrated in tackling with its bid to put Japan’s modern industrial sites into the World Heritage list will contribute to solving other pending issues in a favorable manner and virtuous cycle. 

President Park Receives Abe’s Special Envoy

In the afternoon of June 22, President Park met with Chairman Fukushiro Nukaga of the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians’ Union at Cheong Wa Dae. The chairman was visiting Korea in his capacity as Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s special envoy to attend a reception in Seoul celebrating the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan.

Welcoming Chairman Nukaga to Korea at such a meaningful time, President Park noted that the Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs, too, was visiting Japan. He had a constructive exchange of opinions with the Japanese foreign minister on June 21 and made a courtesy call on Prime Minister Abe on June 22. She went on to say that it would be very significant for the two leaders to attend receptions in celebration of the 50th anniversary in Seoul and Tokyo, respectively. She expressed the hope that this event would serve as a catalyst to further advance Korea-Japan relations. 

Chairman Nukaga said the attendance by the two leaders at the receptions celebrating normalized ties would please and reassure people in both countries. He handed President Park a message from Prime Minister Abe to the effect that he hoped Korea and Japan, two important neighbors, would continue to work together for the greater development of bilateral relations.

In reply, President Park said that she regarded relations between the two nations as important and that improving bilateral ties would benefit both countries. The President went on to say that now was high time to resolve differing positions of the two nations and strive to broaden mutual understanding. 

The President noted that the two nations had been able to take the first step in forging a new relationship, going beyond the era of severance, by signing the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea after tough negotiations 50 years ago today. The President expressed hope that the two nations would be able to bring healing for the agonies of the past and restore mutual confidence through diplomacy, thereby paving the way for a turning point in bilateral relations.

Along these lines, the President said she hoped Prime Minister Abe would fully endorse the spirit that has been upheld by the Cabinet of Japan since 1965 so that Liberation Day this year would be an occasion marking progress toward reconciliation and cooperation between the two countries. 

With regard to peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia, Chairman Nukaga said it was necessary for Korea and Japan, whose common characteristics include a liberal democratic system, a market economy and an alliance with the United States, to cooperate closely to open a new Asia-Pacific era. 

With regard to contentious issues of history, the chairman explained that Prime Minister Abe indicated he would uphold the Kono and Murayama Statements and expressed sorrow at the thought of the victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and their suffering. Referring to the bilateral director-level consultations currently underway, the chairman said that efforts would be made in the political sector to achieve progress in relations. 

Thorny Tasks Standing in the Way of Summit Talks

The leaders of the two countries seem to have shifted towards thawing frosty bilateral ties. It remains to be seen whether the latest moves could lead to the two heads of state’s holding summit talks, observers said. They forecast rough sailing ahead, citing the distorting of historical facts and whitewashing of atrocities committed during Japanese colonial rule of Korea, and claims over Korea’s territorial rights over Dokdo. Those issues have plagued Korean-Japanese relations. 

The thorniest issue is Japan’s official apology over “comfort women,” the Korean victims of sex slavery, and legal compensation, which both sides are at loggerheads over. Korea and Japan reportedly failed to iron out differences over the issue during their foreign ministers’ meeting in Tokyo on June 21. Foreign affairs sources said the more nationalistic Abe government would not accept legal responsibility over Japan’s wartime atrocities involving comfort women. 

Japanese Prime Minister Abe and Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Saiki Akitaka, an influential ministry official, are known as strong opponents. The Korean government seems to keep pressuring Japan over the issue, but have said they would consider separating it from other issues. Korean Ambassador to Japan Yoo Heung-soo said in a media interview that resolving the comfort women’s issue is not a precondition to hold summit talks. But the Korean government would not try to solve the issue in a hasty and clumsy manner.

Still other thorny issues undermining bilateral ties are Japan’s claims over Korean territory and Japanese textbooks’ distortion of internationally accepted historical facts.