SEOUL, South Korea — The leaders of South Korea and Japan met Monday for their first formal one-on-one talks in 3 1/2 years, a day after they held a three-way summit with China’s premier and agreed to strengthen ties that have frayed over history and territorial disputes.
Ties between Japan and its two Asian neighbors — key trading partners — have deteriorated after the hawkish Abe took office in late 2012. Seoul and Beijing see Abe as whitewashing Japan’s atrocities during and leading up to World War II.
Although no major agreement was announced after Sunday’s meeting in Seoul, it can be still considered as a step forward after the gap in such meetings, which used to be an annual affair. A joint statement said the three leaders agreed to try to resolve history-related issues by “facing history squarely and advancing toward the future” and boost exchanges and cooperation on economic, cultural and other sectors.
Since taking office in early 2013, South Korean President Park Geun-hye had never had bilateral talks with Abe until Monday’s meeting at her presidential Blue House in Seoul, though U.S. President Barack Obama brought them together in a three-way meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, last November.
