Tokyo, Feb. 19 (BNA): Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi met his South Korean counterpart, Park Jin, today, Saturday, and stressed the need for continued contacts between the two countries to return to “healthy relations.”
A statement issued by the Japanese Foreign Ministry said that the two foreign ministers, during their meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, agreed to “close contacts between the two countries at every diplomatic level to resolve issues of concern.”
The ministry said they also had a “frank” discussion about wartime labor issues, a case that soured relations after a South Korean court ordered the seizure of assets of Japanese firms accused of failing to compensate some of their colonial-era workers.
Tokyo says the issue of reparations was settled under a 1965 treaty normalizing diplomatic relations and providing South Korea with economic aid, and has warned of serious repercussions if the orders are carried out.
Japan is considering easing restrictions on the shipment of high-tech items, which it imposed in 2019 on South Korea over a dispute over the forced labor of wartime Korean workers, with the neighbors holding a series of talks aimed at resolving the dispute, the Sankei newspaper reported. in late January.
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