Although the Japan-South Korea summit meeting this month is likely to be postponed, the calm relationship between the two countries can be seen from the remarks of a senior official in the South Korean presidential office.

On the 1st of this month, a high-ranking official in the South Korean presidential office denied that there were "no plans" to hold a Japan-South Korea summit in March. Some Japanese media reported last month that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited South Korea on the 20th of this month and
It was reported that he was considering meeting with President Yeol (Yun Seok-Yeol). However, South Korean media have been reporting from the beginning that the possibility is low, and Yonhap News on the 14th of last month said, ``At this stage,
It is strongly believed that the two governments are not discussing the possibility of holding a summit meeting, but rather that it is one of the ideas coming from within Japan."
Last year, the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed to resume ``shuttle diplomacy,'' a program of mutual visits between their leaders. President Yoon visited Japan in March last year.
Following this, Prime Minister Kishida visited South Korea in May. Since then, the number of summit meetings has increased, reaching seven in the past year. Japan-Korea shuttle diplomacy is a mutual visit between the Prime Minister of Japan and the President of South Korea.
The purpose is to discuss issues between countries. Initially, it was intended to be held casually at a resort, and in July 2004, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Roh Moo-hyun (Roh Moo-hyun) held the event on South Korea's Cheju Island.
(Hyun) was carried out with the President. The two leaders subsequently held talks in December 2004 in Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, and in June 2005 in Seoul, but Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine sparked strong opposition in South Korea.
, which was temporarily abolished due to the deterioration of Japan-Korea relations. Afterwards, it was revived in 2008 between President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, but in December 2011, a meeting between Mr. Lee and Mr.
During the meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Ta, there was a back-and-forth over the comfort women issue, and the agreement was subsequently discontinued. President Park Geun-hye did not visit Japan, and President Moon Jae-in, who was inaugurated subsequently, did not visit Japan.
Although an agreement was reached with Prime Minister Shinzo Bei to restart the event, full-scale implementation was not achieved. Relations between Japan and South Korea continued to deteriorate, and ``shuttle diplomacy'' was suspended, but things changed with the birth of the Yun administration, which aimed to improve Japan-South Korea relations.
My eyes changed. The impetus for the restoration of relations between the two countries was the South Korean government's announcement of a solution to the former labor forced labor lawsuit. Regarding the former forced labor lawsuit, South Korea's Supreme Court (Supreme Court)
In 2018, he ordered his employers Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Nippon Steel (formerly Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal) to pay compensation. However, Japan maintains that the issue of wartime reparations was resolved in the 1965 Japan-Korea Claims Agreement.
For this reason, the two defendant companies refused to perform. For this reason, the plaintiffs proceeded with the procedure of ``cashing out'' the Japanese company's assets in South Korea by selling them and using them to pay compensation.
The former forced labor lawsuit issue is the biggest issue of concern between Japan and South Korea, and for many years, months have passed without any solution in sight, but the South Korean government has
On March 6th of last year, we announced a ``solution'' to this problem. The content is that the ``Japanese Imperial Forced Mobilization Victims Support Foundation'', which is affiliated with the South Korean government and supports former forced laborers, has been ordered to pay compensation to former forced laborers.
The agreement was to provide the plaintiffs with an amount equivalent to compensation, including interest on late payments, on behalf of Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. At the time of the announcement, President Yoon talked about the solution, saying, ``Until now, the government has tried to respect the position of the victims while
"This is the result of searching for a method that is consistent with the common interests and future development of both Korea and Japan." So far, 11 of the 15 plaintiffs who have won their cases at the Supreme Court in 2018 have accepted the resolution.
An amount equivalent to compensation was paid. For the remaining four people who have refused to accept the case, procedures are underway to deposit the amount equivalent to compensation to the court. On the other hand, many former labor recruitment lawsuits are still pending.
be. The South Korean government plans to make similar payments to newly successful plaintiffs in similar lawsuits, but it has been pointed out that it may run out of financial resources.
Although these issues remain, since the South Korean government presented solutions, the relationship between the two countries has improved dramatically, and now not only the political world but also
Exchanges between the economy and the private sector are active. The Japan-South Korea summit, which had been reported to be held on the 20th of this month, has been postponed, but the words of a high-ranking official in the South Korean presidential office suggest a calm atmosphere.
You can feel the surrounding atmosphere. According to Yonhap News Agency, a senior official told reporters that the possibility of talks taking place this month is "not being promoted. There are no plans." On top of that, ``on political terms.''
"The spirit of shuttle diplomacy is for the leaders of South Korea and Japan to travel back and forth whenever it is mutually convenient without any interference," he said. Meanwhile, a news report said that the Japanese government had decided to postpone Prime Minister Kishida's visit to South Korea.
The Ui Shimbun reported that the reason for this was that ``schedule arrangements could not be reached with the South Korean side.'' In other words, the leaders of Japan and South Korea are now able to easily meet as long as the dates are arranged.