By Takuya Karube,
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Friday with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the resumption of high-level economic and political talks by the end of this year, amid rapid progress in mending ties.
Kishida and Yoon held a brief meeting on the sidelines of a trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden near Washington, and the two Asian leaders welcomed the continuation of active dialogue and cooperation in many areas as well as business exchanges between the two countries, according to the Japanese government.
They also confirmed they will maintain close communication, the government said. The agreement to restart high-level talks pertains to two different engagements -- a vice foreign ministerial strategic dialogue to be planned for this fall and economic talks involving senior Japanese and South Korean officials to be held by the year's end.
Bilateral ties plunged to their lowest point in decades under the administration of Yoon's predecessor, with a range of communications between Tokyo and Seoul suspended largely due to issues stemming from Japan's 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula and its wartime actions.
But Kishida and Yoon agreed in mid-March in Tokyo to move past a dispute over wartime conscripted labor, a point of contention that has been central in the deterioration of ties.
The Biden administration has praised what it called the "political courage" of Yoon, who visited Japan for the first official talks in 12 years between Japanese and South Korean leaders in either of their countries.
Japan and South Korea have markedly improved their relations since then, with Kishida visiting Seoul for a formal meeting with Yoon in May and the two Asian leaders meeting three additional times in recent months.
Kishida and Yoon last held one-on-one talks in July, when they were both in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius to attend a NATO summit.
During the talks, Kishida sought to ensure that a planned release of treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan does not derail the rapprochement between the neighboring countries.
Kishida told Yoon that the release conforms to international safety standards, while referring to a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency concluding it poses no risk to human health or the environment.
At that time, Yoon said his administration "respects" the outcome of the U.N. agency's report that green-lit the Japanese plan, although opposition to the move remained strong among some South Korean citizens.
On Friday, speaking at a joint press conference at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, Yoon said the impending discharge was not an agenda item and "the IAEA's investigation results are something we can trust."
Yoon reiterated, however, that everything should be carried out in line with the procedures established by the agency and "transparent data disclosure" will be required.
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