Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung said Thursday he would maintain a pragmatic approach on diplomacy with Japan, although Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has announced his intention to quit over an election defeat.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee made the remarks at a press conference marking his first 100 days in office, days after Ishiba announced his resignation over a domestic political crisis, amid concerns over trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan. Lee acknowledged that ties with Tokyo remain "difficult" due to historical and territorial issues, but reiterated his principle of pursuing cooperation while addressing disputes separately.
"While we should not turn away from historical and territorial disputes, my position is that we should approach future-oriented issues, such as social, economic and people-to-people exchanges, separately," he said. Lee and Ishiba agreed to pursue "future-oriented" relations during their summit in Tokyo last month, but tensions persist after Seoul boycotted a memorial for the Sado mine over Tokyo's refusal to acknowledge the coercive nature of wartime labor mobilization.
He explained that the Seoul government decided not to attend the Sado mine memorial after consultations with Tokyo failed to reach an agreement.