Abe Seeks Another Summit with Park on Sidelines of Int’l Meetings — NHK

The diplomatic meetings have reportedly arrived at a consensus to solve the issue of comfort women.

The rift has frustrated Washington, which would prefer its two key Asian allies – who last held a proper summit in 2011 – to focus together on containing an increasingly assertive China.

“Regarding the issue of “comfort women”, I believe we should not leave behind difficulties for future generations as we try to build a future-oriented cooperative relationship”, Abe told reporters in Seoul after the talks, which lasted about an hour and 40 minutes. That is disputed by mostly Korean “comfort women”.

He stressed that the two leaders only briefly mentioned the sex slavery issue, adding that Park had failed to keep her promise.

While China previously fought on the side of North Korea, and maintains ties with Pyongyang, the South has been fast improving its own relations with Beijing. And, with only 47 comfort women remaining in Korea, President Park urged for a swift resolution, calling it the biggest stumbling block to their bilateral relations. Despite Japan’s support for the move, its defence minister, Gen Nakatani, has said Tokyo has no plans to join United States patrols near the disputed Spratly archipelago.

The meeting was the sixth trilateral summit between the three countries since it kicked off in 2008.

Hosaka Yuji is a political science professor at Seoul’s Sejong University. It was attended by the Japanese Prime Minister, the South Korean President and the Chinese Premier of the State Council.

Beijing, which claims jurisdiction over the 12 nautical miles (20 kilometers) of territorial waters around the islands as well as most of the South China Sea, protested the incident as a provocation.

In contrast, South Korea’s trade with China rose to 21 percent of its total past year from just 4 percent in 1992, when they normalized ties. The two held a joint press conference and were asked about China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea. They made a statement endorsing increased dialogue and cooperation to resolve regional disputes.

The Japan-South Korea meeting followed the first East Asia Summit – between China, Japan and South Korea – in three years on Sunday, also in Seoul. The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae said the two leaders agreed to work on the issue. The declaration included 18 points on “expanding economic and social cooperation for co-prosperity”, 10 on “promoting sustainable development”, and 14 on “enhancing trust and understanding among the peoples”.

South Korea and Japan together host about 80,000 USA troops, the core of America’s military presence in the Asia-Pacific. South Korea also rejected the fund. They also reaffirmed a resolve to resume stalled global negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Kathleen Struck was the editor.

The Japanese government aims to develop relations with China and South Korea by setting aside historical issues, which the two countries have been fixed on, and using a trilateral framework that emphasizes areas in which the two countries would seek common benefits – like a free trade agreement between the three countries. How should nations deal with their histories in foreign policy?