S. Korea’s Lee seeks better ties with Japan
SEOUL—South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday called on Japan to maintain the recent thaw in ties to help usher in a “friendly new world” based on mutual understanding and reciprocal visits by each other’s leaders.
In his first speech to commemorate the 1919 independence movement against Japan’s colonial rule since becoming president, Lee reiterated the importance of cooperation between South Korea and Japan in the face of a rapidly shifting international landscape.
“Now, as we face the harsh international situation, is the very time for South Korea and Japan to respond to reality and open up the future together,” Lee said, expressing willingness to pursue a pragmatic foreign policy approach.
He said the two countries, in the six decades since establishing diplomatic relations in December 1965, have already advanced ties as “close neighbors with a common front yard” across all areas, including the diplomatic, economic, social and cultural fields.
Lee said the two countries should continue to create a “friendly new world based on genuine mutual understanding and empathy,” though some of the victims of the history between the two nations or the victims’ family members are still living.
Memories of Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula run deep.
