Japan and South Korea’s’s foreign ministers on Saturday agreed to arrange a summit between their leaders next month, seeking to build on a lowering of tensions after Seoul stuck to a key military pact.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in could meet in China next month, their ministers agreed on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Nagoya, Japan.
The summit would take place on the occasion of the Japan-China-South Korea trilateral scheduled for next month, said a Japanese diplomat who declined to give his name.
Ties between the two countries have hit rock bottom in recent months over trade and Japan’s historic war-time atrocities.
This led to Seoul threatening to withdraw from a key military intelligence-sharing pact, alarming the US who said that would benefit only North Korea and China in the region.
Late on Friday, with only six hours until the pact was due to expire, South Korea reversed course and agreed to extend it “conditionally,” warning that it could be “terminated” at any moment.
The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) enabled the two US allies to share military secrets, particularly over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile capacity.
Washington welcomed Seoul’s decision, but urged the pair to “continue sincere discussions to ensure a lasting solution to historic issues.”
Abe on Friday gave a muted response to the decision, stressing that coordination between Tokyo, Seoul and Washington was “very important” while his defense minister urged South Korea to extend the pact “in a firm manne.”
“Thus far Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has signaled no shift in his government’s position on either the white list [of countries that enjoy streamlined export-control procedures] or the dispute over compensation for colonial-era forced labor that triggered this year’s crisis in bilateral relations,” said Tobias Harris, an analyst at Teneo consultants.
“Without assurances that Seoul will adhere to Japan’s understanding of the treaty, it may be difficult to prevent the long-term drift in the relationship,” Harris added.
The G20 gathering focused on global trade issues — including the reform of the WTO — as well as the environment and African development.
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said ministers had agreed on the “urgent” need to reform the WTO amid a collapse in the multilateral trading system and the US-China trade dispute.
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