Japan, South Korea foreign ministers meet on sidelines of Munich security talks

FILE PHOTO: South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi take off their protective masks before they greet each other before their talks, in Tokyo, Japan, July 18, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool

TOKYO — Japan’s foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi met his South Korean counterpart Park Jin on Saturday, February 18, and reiterated the need for continued communications between the two countries to return to a “healthy relationship.”

Meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, the two foreign ministers agreed to “close communications between the two countries on each diplomatic level to resolve issues of concern,” a statement released by the Japanese foreign ministry said.

They also had a “frank” discussion about wartime labour issues, an issue that worsened relations after a South Korean court ordered the seizure of assets of Japanese companies accused of not compensating some of their colonial-era laborers, the ministry said.

Tokyo says the issue of compensation was settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing diplomatic ties and providing South Korea with economic assistance, and has warned of serious repercussions if the orders are enforced.

Japan is considering easing curbs on shipping high-tech materials, which it imposed in 2019 on South Korea over a dispute about Japan’s wartime forced labour by Korean workers, as the neighbors hold a series of talks aimed at solving the dispute, the Sankei newspaper reported in late January.

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