Regarding the March 27 front-page article "Abe, Park focus on North to stop ties going south": If it had not been for the urging of U.S. President Barack Obama, the meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, probably would not have happened.
The peoples of Korea and Japan are basically quite friendly, visiting each other and trying to learn each other's language and culture. It is the "leaders" who make the relationship difficult. Abe and other Japanese leaders — most of whom did not experience the miseries of World War II — should study Japan's history more during the period from the 1920s to the early '40s, and realize that what was done cannot be undone with rhetoric and empty arguments.
It is hoped that Abe will keep this in mind and watch what he says in future meetings with his counterparts.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.