Foreign ministers fail to narrow difference during their talks



By Yi Whan-woo



The top diplomats of Korea and Japan remained poles apart during their talks in Tokyo, Tuesday, regarding the controversial agreement reached between the two sides in 2015 over "comfort women."



Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha sought Japan's understanding about an ongoing investigation by a Korean fact-finding team into the 2015 deal over Japan's imperial-era mobilization of Korean women as sex slaves.



She also expressed hope for improved relations between the two countries irrespective of the outcome of the probe.



But before the talks, Kono emphasized that the 2015 agreement was "final and irreversible" and that it should be carried out in a faithful manner.



Kono said the agreement will not necessarily cause problems, although it complicated the row over the former Korean sex slaves.



The accord was intended to resolve the dispute over sex slaves in a "final and irreversible" manner.



It instead complicated the historical row, as it was criticized in Seoul as a "hasty deal," while Japan has been insisting on Korea's responsibility to implement it.



The two foreign ministers agreed to continue talks over comfort women.



Among other historical issues they discussed included Japan's responsibility to correctly address the forced labor of Koreans on Hashima Island off the coast of Nagasaki during Japan's 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.



The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended setting up an information center to explain the position of the Korean slave workers as a condition of granting World Heritage status to the island among 23 Meiji Industrial Revolution sites in 2015.



Japan virtually snubbed UNESCO by recently planning to build the information center 1,000 kilometers from the island.



Kang called for Japan's compliance with UNESCO.



Meanwhile, Kang and Kono shared their thoughts on bilateral cooperation on North Korea's nuclear threats, the economy, and South Korea's two-track strategy of dealing separately with Japan on history-related issues and economic and security matters.



Regarding North Korea, the two foreign ministers agreed to bolster sanctions and pressure in order to bring the reclusive state to the negotiating table.



They also promised to work closely to help resume a three-way summit involving China next year in Tokyo. The joint summit was last held here in 2015.



Kang later met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and conveyed President Moon Jae-in's invitation for him to attend the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February.



Abe was rumored to not be coming to the Winter Games, if Korea and Japan failed to resolve the conflict over the sex slavery agreement.



Kang said the two countries were able to "change the course of their relations to the positive direction" after Moon took office in May.



Abe said Korea and Japan are "the most important neighbors that share strategic interests" and that it is critical to promote a "future-oriented" relationship.



He underscored a need for three-way cooperation with the United States for regional peace and stability.



Kang arrived in Tokyo, Tuesday, for a two-day trip. This is her first visit to Japan as foreign minister.



Kang's trip to Japan took place amid concerns over little progress being made by the Moon administration in mending ties with Tokyo, especially after it restored Seoul-Beijing relations frayed by the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery here.



Given this climate, Seoul's fact-finding team into the sex slavery deal is taking a prudent approach in its investigation in what is seen as a bid not to provoke Japan.



It will announce its conclusion Dec. 27. The announcement will not contain opinions from the surviving victims of sex slavery on whether the accord should be revised," according to an official on the team.



The Moon administration will refer to the taskforce's findings to finalize whether to retain, modify or scrap the agreement.



"The taskforce judged that it is going beyond its duty to mention what to do with the sex slavery agreement in the future," the official said on condition of anonymity.



The assessment will deal with how the words "final and irreversible" were contained in the agreement, whether the Park administration collected opinions of the victims sufficiently and who first proposed Japan's payment of 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) to Korea in its apology over sex crimes.



