Japan's statue standoff with South Korea yields only loss of face
With Japan’s ambassador returning to Seoul, the government appears to have accepted that his recall failed to dent South Korea’s resolve not to remove the “comfort women” statues in Busan and Seoul.
Japan completes transfer of ¥1 billion to South Korean 'comfort women' fund
The foundation was set up in July by the South Korean government to support the survivors of wartime Japanese military brothels.
U.N. rights panel gets behind 'comfort women' deal as victims ponder proposal
A U.N. panel has praised the agreement reached between Japan and South Korea last year to resolve the issue of Korean "comfort women" who were forced to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military. The U.N. Human Rights Committee said Monday after a meeting ...
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told South Korean President Park Geun-hye that bilateral ties, strained over historical and territorial issues, appear to be improving after their first one-on-one summit earlier this month, a Japanese official said. As they exchanged pleasantries before the summit of the Group ...
The U.S. government welcomed signs of improvement in strained relations between Japan and South Korea as they marked the 50 anniversary of their normalization of diplomatic ties. Washington has urged its two close security allies in East Asia, embroiled in disputes over history-related and territorial ...
The government plans to send a senior official to a ceremony this month commemorating the designation of two islets controlled by South Korea as Japanese territory. Yohei Matsumoto, a Cabinet Office parliamentary secretary, will take part in Takeshima Day on Feb. 22 in Matsue, Shimane ...
Japan's top security official will make a two-day visit to Seoul for talks with South Korea's top presidential aide for national security, both governments said Monday. Shotaro Yachi, national security adviser to the Cabinet, is expected to explain Japan's stance on security policy in his ...
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida called on Thursday for joint efforts with South Korea to advance bilateral relations, including holding a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Park Geun-hye. In a meeting in Tokyo with Cho Tae-yong, South Korea's first vice foreign minister, Kishida ...
A trip around the Yushukan, Japan's font of discord
Often overlooked in discussions about Yasukuni is the divisive role played by the Yushukan, the war museum built within the shrine grounds to promote the "Yasukuni doctrine."
A meeting in April with senior South Korean officials is being considered to lay the groundwork for a bilateral summit, diplomatic sources said Thursday. Foreign Ministry officials from both sides are ready to step up preparations for the so-called director general-level meeting, including deciding which ...
Shin-Okubo, window on a sad regional rift
The crowds at Tokyo's Koreatown have been replaced by a small but strident group of anti-Korean protesters who are turning it into a barometer of Japan-Korea relations.
Ministerial-level talks between Japan and South Korea have failed to mend acrimonious ties strained by the Takeshima territorial dispute, differing interpretations of wartime history and the safety of Japanese fishery products in view of the nuclear disaster. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that he ...
