TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2023) Tokyo is counting on strengthening strategic relations with Seoul and expecting bilateral ties to develop based on friendship and joint cooperation, especially ahead of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol' visit to Japan, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday.
Yoon and his wife are scheduled to travel to Japan from March 16-17. The trip will mark the first visit of a South Korean leader to the country in 12 years.
"In the current strategic situation, including in ensuring security, we are counting on strengthening strategic relations between Japan and South Korea, as well as Japan, South Korea and the United States. We will cooperate with South Korea to realize the aim of a free and open Indo-Pacific region," Matsuno told a press briefing.
At the same time, the Japanese chief cabinet secretary refrained from making predictions about the results of the high-level meeting between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, although he expressed hope that an exchange of views would take place during the talks, and that bilateral relations would develop on the basis of friendship and joint cooperation.
The relations between two neighbors deteriorated in 2018, after South Korea accused Japan of using forced labor during its 1910-1945 colonial rule. The top court of South Korea ordered Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to compensate the victims of forced labor.
The situation started to change for the better after Yoon assumed office as South Korea's president in May 2022 and set a course for mending ties with Tokyo in order to improve both bilateral relations and the trilateral security partnership with Washington.
Last week, the South Korean government proposed a compensation plan for the victims of forced labor during the Japanese rule through a South Korean public foundation instead of Japanese companies, as it was originally prescribed by the court. While some of the victims rejected the proposal, Tokyo welcomed it.
