Japan and South Korea leaders agrees to mend ties

• Japan and South Korea have agreed to resume bilateral security discussions.
• In response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
• And to cooperate to defend the global rules-based order.

In their first such conference in 12 years, the leaders of South Korea and Japan pledged to mend fences as the two neighbors work to deal with the risks posed by North Korea and the growing concerns about China.

“From now on, I would like to open a new chapter in Japan-South Korea relations through frequent visits by both sides that are not tied down by formality,” Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in Tokyo after meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Leaders of South Korea and Japan haven’t met in 12 years because of strained relations stemming from a wartime labor dispute, among other things.

Just hours prior to the trip, North Korea launched its fourth intercontinental ballistic missile in less than a year, a long-range ballistic missile, into the waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.

This launch served as a stark reminder of the shared security challenges the two countries face.

In the joint statement on Thursday, Kishida said that in response to North Korean nuclear and missile threats, Japan and South Korea had decided to resume bilateral security discussions.

They had also reiterated the significance of the “free and open Indo-Pacific” and their commitment to cooperating to defend the global rules-based order.

Yoon also declared his support for “fully normalizing” the military intelligence sharing pact with Japan.

“I believe the two countries should be able to share information on North Korea’s nuclear missile launches and trajectories, and respond to them,” he said.

A long-running dispute about Japan’s use of forced labor during its colonization of Korea led South Korea to sever its military information sharing deal with Japan in 2019, which brought relations to their lowest point in decades.

After decades of disagreements and mistrust plagued the two significant American allies in Asia, the summit between Yoon and Kishida is an essential step towards mending strained relations.

It has been hailed as “an important milestone” in the growth of bilateral ties by Yoon’s office.

On the basis of Yoon’s request that he enjoy those delicacies, the two leaders are anticipated to share a dinner of sukiyaki and “omurice,” or omelets rice in English, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

The hostility between the two East Asian countries dates back to Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula a century ago.

Although the two nations’ ties were normalized in 1965, unresolved historical conflicts have persisted, particularly those involving colonial Japan’s use of forced labor and so-called “comfort women” sex slaves.

The United States’ attempts to portray a united front against North Korea in recent years have been undercut by the frequently tense relations, as has Beijing’s increasing aggressiveness.

The US’s two most crucial partners in the region now seem prepared to start over.

Before the meeting, Japan and South Korea decided on Thursday to end a trade dispute that has strained relations for years.

This was another gesture of goodwill.

South Korea’s World Trade Organization case about Japan’s export limitations on high-tech materials used to make semiconductors and display panels will be dropped.

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