S. Korea’s Park steps closer to meeting Japan’s Abe

S. Korea’s President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. AP Photos

WASHINGTON—President Park Geun-hye on her U.S. trip said she deemed it was possible to meet one-on-one with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the occasion of the trilateral summit of South Korea, China and Japan in about two weeks.

READ: South Korea, Japan to hold talks on comfort women

“I believe the summit can bear substantial meaning if we were to see some progress on pending issues, for instance by soothing the pains of comfort women,” Park said while answering questions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on her third day in Washington.

The position was deemed a step closer to burying the hatchet with Abe, whom Park has shunned over his revisionist moves since she took office in 2013.

READ: Japan mulls revision of comfort women apology

Up until recently, it has been the Seoul government’s position that summit talks with Japan were impossible without progress on the issue of comfort women, with Tokyo whitewashing its forcibleness.

Seoul has started showing signs of softening, as Washington and Tokyo have moved to bolster their alliance, with Park saying in an interview with the Washington Post in June that the Korea-Japan negotiation has made progress and that it was in its final stage. The director-level talks, which began last year, have since been dragging.

Park said in her speech at the CSIS that the trilateral summit will become an important juncture not only for peace and stability in the region, but also in improving ties with Japan.

“I hope this trilateral summit will provide an opportunity for Korea and Japan to clear away obstacles hindering closer bilateral ties and thus hold sincere discussions on the way forward towards a common future.”

She went on to hype the trilateral diplomacy that she said was a “new endeavor” to make important contributions to improving bilateral and multinational cooperation in Northeast Asia, the only region that lacks mechanisms for multilateral cooperation.

Such moves also come in line with U.S. efforts to develop multiway cooperation in the region, such as through the ASEAN Regional Forum and East Asia Summit, she said.

Senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs Ju Chul-ki separately told reporters that the date of the summit talks has not been confirmed, though it is likely to be held around Nov. 1.

This will be the first trilateral summit in three years and six months, and it will be attended by Park, Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. It’s South Korea’s turn to host the session.