Japan's leader makes a farewell visit to Seoul and reaffirms sympathy for Korean colonial victims

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Less than a month before leaving office, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Seoul and reaffirmed his sympathy for the suffering of Koreans during Japan’s colonial rule, as he and his South Korean counterpart Friday underscored the need to maintain warming ties between the Asian neighbors.

Since early last year, Kishida and conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have worked together to repair ties badly frayed over grievances stemming from Japan’s brutal 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula. As a result, the two countries revived high-level talks and withdrew reciprocal economic restrictions imposed due to wrangling over the issue of Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies during the colonial period.

But experts say challenges lie ahead after Kishida's departure.

“It's important to uphold the efforts by our predecessors to overcome difficult periods and cooperate with the Republic of Korea for the future,” Kishida said at the start of a meeting with Yoon, according to Yoon's office.

Kishida said he has “strong pains in my heart" over the suffering of victims of forced labor, Yoon's office said, similar to comments he made last year. On both occasions he avoided a new, direct apology for colonization.

Yoon said “difficult issues” between the two countries remain but he hoped that Seoul and Tokyo will continue their pushes to achieve “a brighter future” for them.

South Korea and Japan, both key U.S. allies in Asia, face same major challenges such as the intensifying strategic rivalry between the U.S. and China, North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal and supply chain vulnerabilities.

Their cooperation is also crucial for U.S. efforts to upgrade its regional alliances in response to increasing Chinese influence and North Korea’s nuclear threat.

Kishida said close cooperation between Tokyo and Seoul is essential for regional peace and stability. Yoon said positive momentum for bilateral cooperation is necessary to reinforce a trilateral South Korea-U.S.-Japan partnership.

No big announcement was made after the Yoon-Kishida summit, their 12th. However, the leaders reached an agreement on strengthening cooperation on protecting each other’s citizens living in third countries.

Kishida’s two-day trip was arranged after he “actively” expressed hope for a meeting with Yoon to end his term on a high note in bilateral relations, South Korean officials say. He is credited with boosting Japan’s security and diplomatic partnerships with neighboring countries but suffered low popularity due to his governing party’s political scandals.

“Prime Minister Kishida has put his personal political capital on the line to improve relations with South Korea. With President Yoon, Kishida upgraded bilateral diplomatic and security cooperation and elevated trilateralism with the United States” at a summit at Camp David in the United States last year, said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

“This farewell summit in Seoul is meant to solidify that legacy,” he said.

Kishida’s visit still drew a bitter reaction from some South Koreans, who have criticized Yoon’s government for downplaying Japan’s colonial atrocities while trying to appease Tokyo. Yoon’s creation of a South Korean corporate fund to compensate former Korean forced laborers without Japanese contributions triggered a massive backlash from his liberal rivals at home.

On Friday, dozens of protesters scuffled with police in downtown Seoul as they rallied in front of a statue of Adm. Yi Sun-shin, a 16th-century naval hero who is lionized for his role in repelling a Japanese invasion. They shouted anti-Japan slogans and held banners that portrayed Yoon as a traitor. Police detained at least two protesters who tried to climb the statute.

“If President Yoon is truly the president of the Republic of Korea, he must not let the visit become an occasion to advertise Kishida’s achievements,” said Han Min-soo, a spokesperson for the main liberal opposition Democratic Party. “Our people will no longer tolerate the Yoon Suk Yeol government undermining national interest with a subservient diplomacy toward Japan.”

Last month, Kishida announced he won’t seek another term, clearing the way for his governing Liberal Democratic Party to choose a new standard bearer in its leadership election on Sept. 27. The winner of that election will replace Kishida as both party chief and prime minister.

Among the leading candidates is former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who has frequently visited Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors the country’s about 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals. Japan’s neighbors view the shrine as a symbol of the country’s past militarism.

“If Shinjiro Koizumi wins the race, he will likely maintain (Kishida’s) strategic external policies including toward South Korea. But whether he would continue to go to Yasukuni Shrine will be a key issue,” said Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

“Can South Korea accept a new Japanese prime minister visiting Yasukuni Shrine? I doubt it,” she said.

Kishida has refrained from visiting and praying at the shrine while prime minister, and instead sent ritual offerings.

Another contender is former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose strong comments on Japanese military ambitions could complicate ties with South Korea, Choi said.

In the longer term, South Korea-Japan relations could experience bigger changes if liberals in South Korea win back the country’s presidency after Yoon ends his single five-year term in 2027.

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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung and Lee Jin-man contributed to this report.