Japan's Abe, S. Korean special envoy agree to resume leaders' shuttle diplomacy

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a special envoy of South Korea's newly-elected President Moon Jae-in agreed in talks Thursday to resume the shuttle diplomacy between the leaders of both countries.

The shuttle diplomacy formerly saw the leaders visit each other's countries about once a year, but the dialogue has been suspended since the end of 2011 under the then administration of President Lee Myung Bak.

At the talks held in Tokyo on Thursday, Abe and Moon Hee-sang, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party in South Korea, reaffirmed an agreement made between Abe and Moon Jae-in by telephone after the latter was sworn in as president recently, to build a future-oriented bilateral relationship.

Abe and the South Korean envoy also restated in the talks at the prime minister's office that Tokyo and Seoul are important regional neighbors and share strategic interests.

The envoy handed Abe a letter from President Moon stating that he hoped to meet Abe in the near future and restart the shuttle diplomacy.

The two leaders have provisionally agreed to hold talks as soon as possible, with the sidelines of a summit of Group of 20 major economies in Germany in July being earmarked as a possible opportunity for this to happen.

Abe said the early dispatch to Tokyo from Seoul of the special envoy after President Moon established his administration was a sign of cordial relations between both countries.

Moon Hee-sang said that both countries share a practical interest in dealing with issues pertaining to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Ahead of his meeting with Abe, the South Korean envoy met with Japan's top government spokesperson Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

Suga and Moon Hee-sang said they would work closely together on issues connected to the Korean Peninsular and would lay the groundwork for a Japan-South Korea summit to be held at an early juncture.

Suga told a press briefing after the meeting that there remained difficult issues, however, to be settled between the two countries.

Japan is still at odds with South Korea over "comfort women" statues erected to memorialize the women coerced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army during Word War II.

Japan believes that a 2015 accord inked between Tokyo and Seoul and the paying of 1 billion yen (8.98 million U.S. dollars) last year to a South Korean fund to help former comfort women and their families as part of the deal would settle the matter.

But a South Korean civic group erecting a "comfort women" statue outside the Japanese Consulate General in the port city of Busan last December led to Japan recalling its ambassador to South Korea for three months by way of protest.

Prior to that, a "comfort women" statue was erected in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, which also irked Tokyo.

Abe said the 2015 pact should be "properly managed," according to Suga on Thursday. Suga said that he and the envoy had confirmed both sides would carry out their respective responsibilities regarding the accord.

Moon, for his part, in the run up to him winning the presidential election in South Korea said he would look to renegotiate and revise the 2015 agreement inked between both countries. Enditem