Less than a month before leaving office, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Seoul and reaffirmed sympathy for the suffering of Koreans during Japan's colonial rule, as he and his South Korean counterpart Friday underscored the need to maintain warming ties between the Asian neighbours.
Since early last year, Kishida and conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have worked together repair ties badly frayed over grievances stemming from Japan's brutal 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.
As a result, the two countries revived high-level talks and withdrew reciprocal economic restrictions imposed due to wrangling over Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies during the colonial period.
But now, experts say challenges lie ahead after Kishida's departure.
“It's important to uphold the efforts by our predecessors to overcome difficult periods and cooperate with the Republic of Korea for the future,” Kishida said at the start of a meeting with Yoon, according to Yoon's office.
Kishida said he has “strong pains in my heart" over the suffering of victims of forced labour, Yoon's' office said, similar to comments he made last year. On both occasions he avoided a new, direct apology for colonization.
Yoon said “difficult issues” between the two countries remain but he hopes that Seoul and Tokyo will continue their pushes to achieve “a brighter future” for them.
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