SEOUL, Mar 2 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, yesterday urged Japan to squarely face colonial history, saying, the door remained open to dialogue between the two countries.
“(South) Korea and Japan, close neighbours, must be able to overcome the history of the once unfortunate past, and cooperate for the future,” Moon said in a speech, marking the 103rd anniversary of Korea’s 1919 nationwide uprising, against Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
Diplomatic ties between Seoul and Tokyo have soured since 2019, when Japan imposed export restrictions on South Korea, in apparent retaliation against the South Korean court rulings that ordered some Japanese firms to give compensation to South Korean victims, who were forced by the Imperial Japan into hard labour.
Japan has refused to acknowledge the forced sexual slavery of Korean women, during the colonisation of the Korean Peninsula, repeating its territorial claims to South Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets, called Takeshima in Japan.
“Japan will become a trustworthy country, only when it is able to empathise with the wounds of the people of neighbouring countries, which are sometimes exacerbated by a once unfortunate past,” Moon said.
“My administration will always keep the door open for dialogue to join forces, not only for regional peace and prosperity, but also in respond to global challenges that range from COVID-19 and the climate crisis, to the supply chain crisis and the new economic order,” Moon added.– NNN-YONHAP
