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President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prior to their summit at the Blisshill Stay at Yongpyong Resort in Pyeongchang County

During their third summit, which was held on Feb. 9, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe locked horns over the comfort women agreement that the two countries reached on Dec. 28, 2015. The two leaders’ position on the issues of North Korea and its nuclear program also differed in terms of emphasis, but they remained committed to improving bilateral relations as they agreed to move forward with restoring shuttle diplomacy.

Moon and Abe began their meeting, which took place at Blisshill Stay at Yongpyong Resort in Gangwon Province on the afternoon of Feb. 9, by discussing the comfort women agreement. This was the first time they had met since a South Korean Foreign Ministry task force assigned to review the agreement released its report in Dec. 2017.

After the summit, Blue House spokesperson Kim Eui-kyum told reporters that Abe had said, “According to international norms, the comfort women agreement should be upheld even by a different administration since it was an agreement between the two governments. Since Japan has accepted the agreement as final and irreversible and kept its promise, we hope that the South Korean government will keep its promise, too.”

During the meeting, Abe reportedly also asked for the removal of the comfort woman statue in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Kyodo News reported that Abe had made this request while stating that “there is a diplomatic issue with the comfort woman statue in front of the Japanese embassy.”

Moon responded that “the reason we decided that the comfort women issue has not been resolved is because the former comfort women and the Korean public have not accepted the content of the agreement that was reached by the previous administration.”

According to Kim, Moon said that the comfort women issue “is not something that can be resolved through horse trading between two governments” and that “the governments of both countries need to keep working together” to find a genuine solution to the comfort women issue.

On Feb. 9, Moon appears to have reiterated his “two track” principle for dealing separately with disputes about the past and meaningful cooperation for the future. Prior to the meeting, he expressed his “sincere hope that our two countries will become true friends that understand each other” and mentioned his plan to “push for future-oriented cooperation between our two countries” while also facing history squarely.

A “free and candid” sharing of opinions

Since Abe also communicated Japan’s position to Moon as expected, the two sides essentially reconfirmed their current positions on the comfort women issue. But considering that a senior official at the Blue House said that the two leaders had shared their “free and candid opinions” on this matter, the discussion appears to have been more heated than ever before. In diplomatic circles, expressing “free and candid opinions” is a euphemistic way of referring to an argument. This is leading some analysts to predict that a chill will return to South Korea-Japan relations for the time being.

The two leaders also highlighted different approaches to the issues of North Korea and its nuclear program. “North Korea is participating in inter-Korean dialogue during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics even as it focuses on developing nuclear weapons and missiles. We need to be alert to North Korea’s ‘smile diplomacy,’” Abe said. He focused on cooperation between South Korea and Japan, as well as with the US, against North Korea, as part of a framework of sanctions and pressure against the North.

In contrast, Moon said that “the fears that inter-Korean dialogue will distract us from denuclearization or will weaken international cooperation are groundless. Improving inter-Korean relations and inter-Korean dialogue must in the end lead to denuclearization.” Moon was also quoted by Kim as saying that he “hopes that Japan will also be an active partner in dialogue to sustain this mood.”

Despite wrangling over the main issues being discussed during the meeting, which lasted for about an hour, Moon and Abe also appear to have agreed about the need to build a “future-oriented relationship” between the two countries. “The two leaders decided to move forward with restoring shuttle diplomacy, as they agreed last year, and they are in agreement about holding a trilateral summit with China in Japan before long,” Kim said.

Although Moon and Abe agreed to restore shuttle diplomacy – which refers to the two leaders traveling back and forth for summits when urgent matters arise – during their first summit in July 2017, no further progress had been reached since then. If Abe’s visit to South Korea leads to Moon visiting Japan, then shuttle diplomacy will effectively have been restored. Abe’s previous visit to South Korea was in Nov. 2015, two years and three months ago, when he attended a summit with the leaders of South Korea and China.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter and Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

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