Abe, S. Korean PM talks result in little headway made as disputes continue

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks with South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon in Tokyo on Thursday, amid strained ties between both countries who have been at odds over wartime issues that have spilled over into a tit-for-tat trade row.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) and his South Korean counterpart Lee Nak Yon shake hands ahead of their talks in Tokyo on Oct. 24, 2019. [Photo: IC]

After the meeting, Lee told reporters that he had handed his Japanese counterpart a letter from South Korean President Moon Jae-in, although officials from both sides alluded to a lack of tangible progress being made during the meeting in bringing the bitter two-way spat between both countries to an end.

Japan and South Korea have seen bilateral ties sink to their lowest level in recent years following South Korea's top court last year ordering Japanese firms to pay compensation to forced laborers during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Since then both sides have tightened export controls on certain materials and products and a key military pact between the two neighbors has also been severed owing to the rift.

The visit and talks held between the two counterparts Thursday, however, had initially raised the prospect of the bitter dispute potentially showing embryonic signs of easing, sources close to the matter had said.

They were referring to remarks made by Lee to Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of Komeito, Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's coalition ally on Wednesday.

Lee reportedly told Yamaguchi that he hoped the talks with Abe would help create an environment in which the two sides could begin to work towards establishing "future-oriented" ties.

Despite the highest-level talks being held between both countries in more than a year, however, officials intimated after the talks concluded that little progress had been made.

Abe and Lee both agreed in principle, nevertheless, that the protracted dispute should not be left unchecked as the two counties are important neighbors.

They also agreed that despite the ongoing feud, importance should continue to be placed on people-to-people exchanges between both countries.