South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol told Japanese lawmakers on Wednesday that he has no intention of using wartime history issues with Japan for domestic political gains, in yet another sign the new leader will seek to repair frayed bilateral ties.
"The future matters for the relationship between nations. I am opposed to bringing historical issues into domestic politics," Yoon said at a meeting with a cross-party group of lawmakers from Japan, according to one of the participants.
Yoon's remarks appear intended to dispel perceptions in Japan that South Korean leaders often pick quarrels with Tokyo over those issues to turn public attention away from domestic problems, particularly when they find their popularity waning.