In July 2014, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to launch negotiations this year on the demarcation of their maritime boundaries amid tension over their overlapping EEZs. He said his story on Park’s whereabouts during the ferry disaster serves the public interest.
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In an editorial, the Asahi Shimbun, described as appropriate the court’s ruling that Kato’s article was protected under freedom of journalism in a democratic society despite containing improper elements.
The comments were in line with a Bank of Korea official who told Reuters earlier on Thursday that South Korea still faces capital outflow risk while the central bank issued a statement that it would seek out market stabilising measures with the government if necessary.
“The National Assembly’s raison d’etre is to represent the people”, Park said, adding that political reform starts with doing what the people want.
Korean prosecutors requested an 18-month prison sentence for Kato. South Korean courts have not convicted a defendant of sedition since 1986, when dictator Chun Doo-hwan was in power, legal experts say. Korea’s foreign ministry says it expects the clearing of the case to be an opportunity to improve relations with Japan, which have been strained over Tokyo’s historical wrongdoings.
The Park administration had come under fire for its botched rescue operation during the sinking, the nation’s worst maritime accident, which killed 304 people, most of whom were teenagers on a school trip.
With both countries holding parliamentary elections next year, progress on touchy issue appears unlikely The governments of South Korea and Japan have effectively failed in their effort to resolve the issue of the comfort women before the end of the year.
Abe told reporters in Tokyo that he welcomed the verdict, saying he was hoping that the acquittal would have “positive effects” on ties.
A South Korean court today cleared a Japanese journalist of defaming the South Korean president in a case that raised new questions about media freedom and had threatened to inflame relations between the uneasy neighbours.
News 1 reported Japan’s National Public Safety Chairman Taro Kono said Friday he would strengthen security around South Korean diplomatic missions in Japan in the aftermath of the incident.
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“We haven’t seen that kind of commitment from Japan or South Korea yet”, said BMI’s Hayden.
