{"id":2199030,"date":"2022-09-23T10:17:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T10:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2199030"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:11:33","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:11:33","slug":"south-korea-and-japan-take-small-step-toward-better-ties-at-informal-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/09\/south-korea-and-japan-take-small-step-toward-better-ties-at-informal-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea and Japan take small step toward better ties at \u2018informal summit\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol finally met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, marking the first meeting between the countries\u2019 leaders in nearly three years.<\/span><\/p>\n For days it was far from clear from whether the talks would even take place, as the two sides sent contradictory messages about what they had agreed to. And the meeting itself was more like a pull-aside than the summit was promised, not unlike the mismatch between the hype and delivery for Yoon\u2019s talks with Biden in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, there was a clear mismatch in enthusiasm between Japan and South Korea, as Tokyo responded in a cool manner as Seoul pushed hard for a meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet the fact that a meeting took place at all, after bilateral relations all but collapsed under the two countries\u2019 former, more nationalistic leaders, was notable all the same. And it showed that the two sides harbor the will to cooperate, even though there remain many problems for the two sides to solve.<\/span><\/p>\n PLANNING DISARRAY<\/b><\/p>\n The preparations for the Yoon-Kishida talks unrolled in an unusually messy way. One week prior to the meeting, the Korean side <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> that two countries had agreed to hold a 30-minute summit in New York. But a Japanese government <\/span>contradicted<\/span><\/a> this announcement the same day, <\/span>stating<\/span><\/a> that Kishida\u2019s trip to New York was yet to be confirmed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The mess only got worse when a Japanese daily <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> the next day that the sides had not agreed on a meeting, citing an anonymous Tokyo foreign ministry official.<\/span><\/p>\n Other Japanese outlets soon <\/span>published<\/span><\/a> their own articles <\/span>reporting<\/span><\/a> that Kishida had expressed displeasure at Seoul\u2019s premature announcement and resolved not to meet Yoon. The ROK administration then changed its position and <\/span>refused to comment<\/span><\/a> on a potential summit at all.<\/span><\/p>\n Actually, both South Korea and Japan have worked hard to dissolve tensions that developed in recent years. The Japanese side <\/span>thought<\/span><\/a> that it would be good to hold a summit at an international event. Tokyo also <\/span>wanted<\/span><\/a> to restart minister- and vice-minister-level talks, and the two sides’ defense vice-minister-level <\/span>met<\/span><\/a> in <\/span>early September<\/span><\/a> for the first time in six years, while their national security advisers <\/span>met<\/span><\/a> in late August.<\/span><\/p>\n Nonetheless, the unilateral Korean statement <\/span>annoyed<\/span><\/a> Japanese diplomats who felt the action undermined their efforts to restore trust. Perhaps the major reason for the mess was the Yoon administration\u2019s desire to demonstrate its diplomatic achievements.<\/span><\/p>\n