The ruling Democratic Party candidate in South Korea's upcoming presidential election signaled alarm at Japan on Wednesday, saying he is "of course opposed" to the idea of a military alliance between the United States, South Korea and Japan.
Citing an ownership dispute with Japan over South Korean-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan, Lee Jae-myung said at a media event, "Is Japan a perfectly friendly state that can be trusted at all times?"
Lee, who was governor of Gyeonggi Province until last month, has previously expressed his distrust of Japan, which ruled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 until the end of World War II in 1945.