Would South Korea and Japan be able to improve their worsened ties soon?
Word around town is that South Korean Prime Minister might deliver a friendly letter from President Moon Jae-in to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he visits Tokyo next week.
Our Shin Se-min starts us off.
Perhaps a friendly letter from South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could help defrost the bilateral relations between the two countries.
South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon says that he has requested a letter from Moon so he can deliver the message to the Japanese leader when he visits Tokyo next week to attend the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito on October 22nd.
In an interview with Japan's Kyodo News on Friday, Prime Minister Lee said he is keen to be messenger between the two leaders,... adding that he will listen to Abe's words sincerely and "do his best to explain the thoughts of President Moon and himself."
An official at the top office, in regards to the PM's interview,... said it's difficult to say whether a letter is being prepared but said such discussions between the President and the Prime Minister had in fact taken place.
In regards to his visit to Japan Lee said he hopes the two leaders can resolve the matters between the two sides as historic obligations and added that it will not take long to solve the bilateral friction, given that the leaders both appear to have a strong will to do so before the end of their terms.
Also speaking to Asahi Shimbun,... the Prime Minister said if Japan rolls back its trade restrictions against South Korea then the two sides can review the possibility of Seoul rejoining its military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan and added that all of this is possible when two sides make efforts.
Prime Ministers Lee and Abe are likely to meet one-on-one next week,... with probable date being the 24th but officials in Seoul have yet to finalize that schedule.
That meeting, although expected to be a brief encounter will be the highest level meeting between the two neighboring countries since their relations tanked to their lowest level in decades.
Topping the agenda for the talks may be Japan's export curbs, which are seen as political retaliation for a South Korean top court's ruling last year that ordered Japanese firms to compensate victims of forced labor in the early 19-hundreds.
Shin Se-min, Arirang News.