Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering attending an event in Tokyo to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between Japan and South Korea, a government source said Thursday.
Abe's final decision on attending the June 22 event organized by the South Korean Embassy will hinge on whether South Korean President Park Geun-hye will attend a similar commemorative event to be held the same day by the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, the source said.
The two countries will be holding the events amid strained bilateral ties due to conflicting views on Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and the Takeshima territorial row. The issue of the Korean "comfort women" who were forced to provide sex at Japanese military brothels before and during World War II is a particularly bitter issue.