As Japan and South Korea attempt once again to put their bitter 20th-century disputes to rest, it signals a growing recognition in both capitals that their 21st-century security may depend on each other.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in Tokyo on Thursday trying to end four years of feuding over compensation for Japan’s use of forced labor during its 1910-45 occupation of the peninsula. It’s the first visit by a South Korean leader since 2019, which includes a meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the first such summit on Japanese soil in more than a decade.
The meeting came together because Yoon, a conservative who took office a year ago, had decided that continuous bickering with a fellow U.S. treaty ally was bad for both countries, according to a South Korean official close to the talks. The prosecutor-turned-politician made it a high priority six months ago to find a way to pay people forced to work at Japanese colonial-era mines and factories that was acceptable to Tokyo, the official said.