TOKYO: The Japanese and South Korean governments are coordinating to hold a bilateral summit meeting in Japan as early as the second half of next week after Seoul on Monday announced a plan to resolve the thorny wartime labor issue between the two countries, informed sources said Tuesday.

Through their summit, Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol will apparently seek to show both internationally and domestically that the two countries are moving to mend fences.

The last Japan-South Korea summit was held in Japan in May 2018, before Yoon took office in May 2022. The planned summit would be the second official meeting between Kishida and Yoon, after the first in Phnom Penh last November.

Following the South Korean government’s announcement, Kishida told a meeting of Liberal Democratic Party executives on Monday that he hopes not to miss the opportunity to improve the bilateral relations.

Yoon is aiming to revive the so-called Japan-South Korea shuttle diplomacy, or reciprocal visits by the two countries’ leaders, and some in the Japanese government view this positively.

At the envisioned meeting with Yoon, Kishida is expected to welcome Seoul’s plan to have a South Korean foundation pay wartime labor compensation on behalf of Japanese companies ordered to do so by South Korea’s Supreme Court.

The Japanese leader is also expected to indicate that his cabinet will uphold the positions on history adopted by previous cabinets, including the “deep remorse and heartfelt apology” for Japan’s past colonial rule expressed in the 1998 Japan-South Korea joint statement.

But in Japan, especially among conservatives, there is skepticism that Seoul will move forward with its wartime labor resolution plan after it has effectively scrapped a 2015 agreement with Japan to resolve the issue of so-called comfort women.

“We must not take a proactive attitude,” said an LDP lawmaker.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said, “We hope (South Korea) will steadily implement (the resolution plan).”

In South Korea, meanwhile, plaintiffs in wartime labor lawsuits and some opposition lawmakers are criticizing the resolution plan.

Given the skepticism in Japan and the criticism in South Korea, the two governments are seen carefully drafting an announcement to be released after the planned summit.

JIJI Press