ANKARA
South Korea’s president is expected to visit Japan later this month as tensions continue to rise on the Korean Peninsula, local media said on Tuesday.
The announcement by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office came after a recent proposal by Seoul to compensate wartime victims of forced labor by Japan through a local foundation without involving Japanese firms, Yonhap News Agency reported.
If it takes place, Yoon’s visit to Tokyo will be the first such trip by a South Korean leader to Japan in four years. The issue of compensation has long strained relations between the two US allies in the region due to issues stemming from Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
Yoon’s predecessor, Moon Jae-in, had scrapped a previous visit in 2021 to attend the Olympic Games in Tokyo due to the diplomatic row that Seoul is looking to mend.
Japanese news agency Kyodo News also reported that Yoon is expected to arrive on a two-day visit on March 16.
On Tuesday, Yoon said his government decided to resolve the dispute and compensate forced labor victims without the involvement of Japanese firms.
“It was the result of our government looking for ways to serve the common interests and future development of both South Korea and Japan while respecting the victims’ positions,” the agency quoted Yoon as saying during a Cabinet meeting at his office.
“It is clear that future-oriented cooperation between South Korea and Japan will help defend freedom, peace and prosperity not only in South Korea and Japan but also around the world,” he added.
Last week, Yoon said Japan had changed from an “aggressor to a partner” and that the two countries would now cooperate more closely on issues of security and economy amid tensions with China and North Korea.
In 2018, a South Korean court asked Japanese firms to pay compensation to the victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor.
Tokyo rejected the ruling and said the issue had been resolved in a 1965 post-war treaty.
In 2019, both countries imposed trade restrictions on each other that further dented relations between Seoul and Tokyo.
However, the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May last year, is trying to improve ties with Tokyo as both countries face a growing threat from North Korea.
In November last year, Yoon met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Cambodia for the first time and agreed to resolve all pending issues between the two countries.
