Moon calls for patience over past

Tokyo wants two statues of ROK comfort women to be removed

SEOUL - ROK President Moon Jae-in has said relations with Japan are being blocked by historical issues that will take time to resolve and asked for Japan's understanding on the issue.

Moon's comments on Monday were an apparent reference to the issue of Korean comfort women, a Japanese euphemism for women forced to work in the Japanese military's wartime brothels.

Moon told the visiting secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party that the people of the Republic of Korea did not accept a deal reached by his conservative predecessor Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2015 to resolve the issue.

But Moon, in his talks with Toshihiro Nikai, apparently did not directly address whether he would try to renegotiate the agreement.

Under the deal, Japan apologized again to the now-elderly women and promised about one billion yen ($9.1 million) for a fund to help them.

The two governments agreed the issue would be "irreversibly resolved" if both fulfilled their obligations.

"Both the ROK and Japan should look at this issue directly and understanding is needed that it will take more time (to resolve it)," Moon told Nikai, the presidential office said.

Moon, who suggested during his successful campaign for a May 9 election that he could try to renegotiate the deal, also said the two countries should not "cling to history" only to block other developments in their ties.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Tuesday reiterated that both countries should stick to the agreement.

"This agreement, which is highly evaluated by international society, is being steadily implemented. That is extremely important. We have conveyed this fact to the new ROK administration through various routes," Suga told reporters.

Tokyo wants Seoul to remove a statue near the Japanese consulate in Busan city commemorating Korean comfort women as well as another near the Japanese embassy in Seoul, saying that the presence of the statues violate the 2015 agreement.

Denuclearization

Moon on Monday also stressed the importance of cooperation with Japan to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and Nikai agreed, the presidential office said, while Suga said the two confirmed the importance of putting pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Moon said the denuclearization of the DPRK will be mandatory for peace in the world and Northeast Asia as well as for the ROK's survival.

Moon also offered to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Pyongyang and other Northeast Asian countries as part of efforts to promote peace in the region, his office said.

Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 06/14/2017 page11)