Shinzo Abe takes shine off summit with Moon Jae-in at Chengdu

Japan’s leader blamed South Korea’s president for the poor state of relations between the two US allies.

Shinzo Abe, left, meets Li Keqiang in Chengdu on Wednesday. Picture: AP

Japan’s leader blamed South Korea’s president for the poor state of relations between the two US allies, setting a chilly tone at their first formal meeting in more than a year.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Moon Jae-in last sat down for official talks in September 2018, but since then a ­series of disputes has brought their relations to a new low.

South Korea’s Supreme Court late last year ordered Japanese companies to financially compensate Koreans forced to work in Japanese factories during World War II — a move Tokyo says violates a 1965 treaty between the two countries.

“They have to strictly observe their promises” made in the ­treaty, Mr Abe said after the 45-minute meeting late on Tuesday.

“I called on the Korean side to come up with the catalyst for ­restoring Japan-South Korea relations to health.”

Mr Moon’s spokeswoman said disagreements remained on the forced-labour issue but the two leaders agreed on the need to quickly resolve the issue and gather for additional summits.

Mr Moon repeated to Mr. Abe that he couldn’t tamper with court decisions, she said.

The two leaders met in Chengdu, the capital of western China’s Sichuan province, after a three-way summit that also ­included Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.

Over the northern summer, Japan imposed export restrictions on materials needed by South Korean technology companies, prompting Mr Moon to announce plans to withdraw from a military information-sharing agreement with Tokyo.

Mr Moon recently took a move towards reconciliation by saying South Korea would stay in the military agreement after all. And at the opening of the meeting, he congratulated Mr Abe on becoming the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history earlier this year.

The Japanese leader offered no in-kind gesture. During the meeting, Mr Abe said relations were in an “extremely severe state” and the reason boiled down to the forced-labour issue, according to Naoki Okada, a Japanese official who was present. The atmosphere of the meeting was “tense, but not acrimonious”, Mr Okada said.

Next year, South Korea’s Supreme Court may proceed with plans to liquidate assets seized from the Japanese companies targeted in the earlier court ruling about forced labour.

Analysts said Mr Moon’s chief objective at the meeting was to ease Tokyo’s export controls, a priority that differed from Mr Abe’s.

Mr Moon praised Tokyo’s recent move to open talks over the issue and suggested he was looking for further progress.

The Japanese side said it didn’t take him up on the subject.

Last week, Tokyo lifted controls on one of the materials, but it has resisted linking the issue to other disputes between the countries.

Although the Trump administration generally hasn’t sought to mediate a deal between Tokyo and Seoul over their disputes on history and trade, the bad blood is worrisome to Washington, since the two countries both host US troops and are allies in trying to hold back North Korea’s ­nuclear program.

Mr Moon alluded to US concerns at the start of his meeting with Mr Abe. He said the rare meeting had drawn global attention, “and we understand what the expectations are”.

Mr Abe denounced recent missile launches by North Korea, but his criticism wasn’t fully supported by either South Korea or China during their three-way meeting. The three ­issued a joint statement that held off from making direct demands on Pyongyang.

Meeting Mr Abe in Beijing on Monday, President Xi Jinping broached a proposal by China and Russia to lift some sanctions on North Korea — a position at odds with Japan.

Donald Trump said on Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may be planning to give him “a nice present” such as a “beautiful vase” for Christmas rather than a missile launch.

The Wall Street Journal