Sharing Opposition against North

The leaders performed as looking to the same direction. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a thirty-minute meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Vientiane, Laos, on Wednesday. While accusing missile test by North Korea, both leaders reconfirmed to activate the measures for settling comfort woman issue included in bilateral agreement last December. International relations did not allow them staying on sentimental quarrels over historical disputes.

In opening dialogue, Abe stressed gradual improvement of their relationship. “It is very preferable that relationship between Japan and South Korea has been making progress after Japan-South Korea Agreement,” said Abe. Park replied with positive notion on their relationship. “I think it is meaningful that we have broader basis for dealing with many issues with common efforts,” told Park.

On launching missiles that touched down in economic exclusive zone of Japan by North Korea, Abe insisted on it as intolerable outrage and required stronger pressure on the North. “We need to let North Korea realize that they are more isolated in international society and reaching self-destruction of the nation as they insist on nuclear weapons and missile development,” replied Park. Reckless regime led by Kim Jong-un is working as glue to connect once broken bilateral relationship between Japan and South Korea.

Both leaders still have difficult issues related to comfort woman. Although Japanese government decided to contribute ¥1 billion yen for establishing a fund for restoring honor of former comfort women in South Korea, the government of Republic of Korea has not implemented an agreement to remove a statue of comfort woman in front of Japanese Embassy in Seoul. “I hope you to make efforts to implementing the agreement including the issue of the statue,” demanded Abe to Park.

Abe and Park are accumulating meetings, following the first one in Seoul last November and another in Washington this March. When they noticed missile launch of North Korea in Hangzhou, while Group of Twenty Summit meeting was held, they reconfirmed cooperation against the North. In the alliance including United States, Japan and South Korea are sharing information and having integrated measures to deter threat from the northern side of Korean Peninsula.

However, South Korea is still reluctant to have General Security of Military Information Agreement with Japan, opposed by the domestic conservatives, which are still skeptical on aggressive nature of Japanese military. Park also faces fundamental resentment of former comfort women or the opposite power in the Congress against the agreement with Japan. Abe and Park are still on their way to normalization of their bilateral relationship.