• Blinken described the latest move as "historic"

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Monday welcomed the South Korean government’s announcement of a plan to resolve the Asian nation’s wartime labor dispute with Japan.

According to the announcement, South Korea plans to have an existing foundation pay compensation to Korean plaintiffs on behalf of Japanese companies sued over wartime labor.

In a statement, Biden said that the Japanese and South Korean governments “are taking a critical step to forge a future for the Korean and Japanese people that is safer, more secure, and more prosperous.”

Biden said that the plan to help resolve the dispute, which had caused Japan-South Korean ties to sour, marks “a groundbreaking new chapter of cooperation and partnership between two of the United States’ closest allies.”

Stressing his intention to strengthen ties between Japan, the United States and South Korea, Biden said that “our countries are stronger — and the world is safer and more prosperous — when we stand together.”

In a separate statement issued the same day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the latest move as “historic.”

The trilateral relationship between Japan, the United States and South Korea is “central to our shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” Blinken said.

For the Biden administration, the US alliance with Japan and South Korea is an integral part of the country’s efforts to keep in check North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and China’s economic coercion.

Viewing the latest announcement by the South Korean government as part of efforts by Seoul and Tokyo to mend bilateral ties, the US government will likely boost trilateral cooperation in fields such as security.

JIJI Press