South Korea’s chief of the country’s intelligence service has proposed a summit of the leaders of the US, Japan and the two Koreas during the Tokyo Olympics next year, it has been reported.
Park Jie-won, the second director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS), made the proposal in Japan on Tuesday.
The trip marked his first as head of the NIS and was aimed at improving relations between the two countries, which have been strained by a feud over compensation for Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies during its colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.
According to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, Mr Park suggested the summit during a meeting with new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, saying it could take up the issues of North Korea’s denuclearisation and the abduction of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents.
He conveyed South Korean President Moon Jai-in’s willingness to improve ties with Japan, with the caveat that there needed to be some Japanese apology or expression of regret for the forced labour that took place during wartime, reported the newspaper.
Mr Park was quoted as saying: “The Olympics could provide a chance to resolve the bilateral issue of forced labour and regional issues including North Korea’s nuclear programmes and Japanese abductees.”
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that Mr Park suggested that the South Korean president and the Japanese prime minister announce a new declaration to build on a 1998 joint pledge of a “future-oriented relationship”.
He confirmed news reports of the suggestions to Yonhap, and expressed confidence that “things will turn out well” between the two countries.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato did not elaborate on Mr Park’s proposal in a briefing but said Mr Suga told the South Korean spy chief that cooperation between Japan, South Korea and the US was essential in dealing with North Korea.
He cited Mr Suga as demanding that South Korea “create an opportunity to restore healthy relations between Japan and South Korea, which have been in a very severe situation”.
Japan’s position on wartime compensation is that all issues were settled by a 1965 treaty that restored diplomatic relations. But the South Korean Supreme Court issued rulings ordering Japanese companies to pay compensation over abuse of Korean labourers during the first world war.
Japan maintains that South Korea’s rulings violate international law.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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