It is reported that US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga discussed the current issue of the conflict between Korea and Japan.
<요미우리신문>According to an official from the Japanese government on the 29th, President Biden and Prime Minister Suga discussed the issue of the Japanese military comfort women and forced conscription lawsuit at the first telephone meeting held the day before.
The official said, “The two leaders agreed that the trilateral solidarity between the two countries is important to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile development,” he said.
President Biden and Prime Minister Suga held a telephone talk on the morning of the 28th and announced that they had agreed to strengthen the US-Japan alliance, resolve the abduction of Japanese citizens early, and cooperate for denuclearization of North Korea, but did not mention relations between Korea and Japan.
<마이니치신문>“The Japanese government welcomes the achievements that President Biden has confirmed the US’ strong commitment to the defense of Japan, but has left a challenge on issues with South Korea.”
“There is a possibility that President Biden has ordered (to Prime Minister Suga) to improve relations between Korea and Japan,” he analyzed.
In this regard, Japanese Secretary of State Manabu Sakai, who attended the telephone talks at the time as an official on the Japanese side, said, “This is a dialogue exchanged in diplomacy, so I will refrain from explaining details.”
It is predicted that the Biden administration will actively mediate the conflict between Korea and Japan, calling for strengthening the ROK-US-Japan alliance to check China and denuclearize North Korea.
However, it is possible that Prime Minister Suga appealed for support from the United States, arguing that the issue of compensation for the comfort women and compulsory conscription in the Korean court was completely resolved through the Korea-Japan Claims Agreement signed in 1965 and the Korea-Japan Comfort Women Agreement in 2015.