These include the grievances by Korean women forced to work as wartime sex slaves, and economic cooperation.
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While a lot of brouhaha surrounds the upcoming China-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit, many experts have voiced low expectations for the gathering due to the aforementioned outstanding issues.
Three countries to discuss stepping up trilateral cooperation; Pres. Park to hold bilateral meetings with both countries A sixth trilateral summit among South Korea, Japan, and China will take place on November 1 at the Blue House’s Yeongbingwan guest house, the Blue House announced on October 28. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said during the regular press briefing on October 28 that he hoped the two leaders would “open their hearts” during the summit.
The talks come as South Korea has expressed willingness to join the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership, a newly agreed free trade initiative involving 12 Pacific Rim economies including Japan. Ultimately, Park is in a position where her only option is to hold a summit with Abe regardless of whether or not progress has been made on the comfort women issue.
She pointed out that in the wake of its highly controversial lifting of the ban on exercising collective self-defense, the Abe government has seen its popularity on the skids and thus, in order to arrest the decline, has to mend fences with Japan’s neighbors. President Park Geun-hye is now scheduled to attend bilateral summits with Premier Li Keqiang on October 31 and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on November 2. Li also plans to meet with Abe on Sunday.
The Japanese government, said Yazaki Mitsuharu, head of the secretariat of Japan-China Friendship Association, should from now on try to earn the trust of China and South Korea with right words and actions and roll out practical measures to promote regional cooperation.
“There are many hard issues between our nation, but that should mean no conditions are put on a leaders’ meeting beforehand – as we have said repeatedly”, he added.
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Working-level discussions were held Thursday in the South Korean capital to hammer out language for the joint statement. In the worst-case scenario, however, the outcome of the summit could be worse than not having had a summit at all.
