hankyoreh

Kang Chang-il, new South Korean ambassador to Japan, arrived in Japan in January. (Kang Chang-kwang/The Hankyoreh)

South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kang Chang-il said the South Korean government was “preparing for a political solution” to the issues of forced labor mobilization and military sexual slavery survivors, as it was “unable to politically involve itself in judicial decisions,” the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Tuesday.

The report was taken as meaning that Seoul is hard at work devising solutions on the historical matters that have become the main sources of friction in relations with Tokyo.

On Monday, Kang visited the Tokyo head office of the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s biggest daily newspaper, to meet with the group’s chairperson Shoichi Oikawa and others.

During the meeting, Kang said he had “confirmed [South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s] intent to resolve” matters concerning lawsuits on the forced labor and military sexual slavery issues.

He went on to say that Seoul would be “capable of resolving the issues if it is able to have dialogue with the Japanese government.”

“Within that dialogue, it could adopt a stance of hearing out the Japanese government’s position,” he suggested.

The Japanese government has so far declined to take part in any dialogue on the military sexual slavery issue and other historical matters, insisting instead that South Korea is responsible for presenting it with concrete solutions.

It has also maintained an uncooperative stance in other areas. For example, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has continued to deliberately refrain from meeting with Kang, despite over a month having passed since he arrived in Tokyo.

By Kim So-youn, staff reporter

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