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South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi pose for a picture after their meeting Wednesday in London. (provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

The first meeting in 15 months between the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan finally took place amid an awkward mood Wednesday.

While the two ministers did meet face-to-face in what came across as a response to requests from the US government — which has stressed the importance of close trilateral cooperation for its China and North Korea policy — their encounter appears unlikely to lead to improvements in their relationship, where differences between the two sides over major issues have only been intensifying.

The meeting between South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi came after a trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting with the US at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on Wednesday.

According to the South Korean and Japanese governments, the trilateral meeting lasted for about 50 minutes, after which the ministers moved to a different location for a bilateral meeting that lasted 20 minutes.

Chung, who became Minister of Foreign Affairs in early February, had not even spoken by telephone with Motegi in the three months since then, amid a deep souring of bilateral ties. It was the first face-to-face meeting between the South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers in 15 months since the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15, 2020.

In a press release issued shortly after the meeting, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said the two ministers had “agreed on the need for close cooperation for the sake of peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and throughout the world.”

It also said they had “agreed to work toward advancing the South Korea-Japan relationship in a future-oriented direction.”

On the key issue of North Korea and its nuclear program, the statement said they had “assessed the close communication that has taken place between South Korea and Japan and among South Korea, Japan and the US.”

“They agreed to continue cooperating toward substantive progress in achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing permanent peace,” it added.

But the two sides failed to move any closer to an agreement on the key issues that have been hamstringing their relationship to date — including compensation to survivors of forced labor mobilization, a South Korean court judgment on the wartime military sexual slavery issue and Japan’s plans to release radioactively contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea.

During the meeting Wednesday, Chung “clearly expressed its opposition and profound concerns over [the radioactive water release decision] being made without sufficient prior discussions with neighboring countries.” In response, Japan reiterated its previous position on the matter.

Motegi also reaffirmed Japan’s basic position on a South Korean court ruling awarding compensation to survivors of military sexual slavery, as well as another by the South Korean Supreme Court ordering compensation for forced labor mobilization.

The Japanese government has insisted that both matters were resolved by the two sides’ Claims Settlement Agreement in 1965 and an intergovernmental agreement in 2015. It claims that the court rulings are “in violation of international law” and has demanded that the South Korean government present concrete measures to resolve the issue.

The MOFA went on to say that Chung had “stressed that historically rooted matters cannot be resolved without some shred of proper historical understanding” and “explained South Korea’s position in terms of the victims of military sexual slavery and forced labor mobilization.”

While the brief duration of the meeting suggests the two ministers were unable to discuss matters in much depth, both appear to have reiterated their respective side’s basic stance.

At the same time, the fact that both of them emphasized the need for communication suggests a ray of hope for their current diplomatic impasse.

Since Yoshihide Suga became Japanese prime minister in September of last year, the South Korean government has been expending considerable efforts to use the scheduled “peace Olympics” in Tokyo this summer as an opportunity to mend ties.

But the Japanese government has continued to rigidly insist that South Korea must “create the conditions for relations to improve.”

As the situation carried on into 2021, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in his March 1 Independent Movement commemorative address that South Korea was “always ready to sit down and have talks with the Japanese government.”

“I am confident that if we put our heads together in the spirit of trying to understand each other’s perspectives, we will also be able to wisely resolve issues of the past,” he said.

Commenting on the meeting Wednesday, a MOFA official said that the “dialogue took place in a positive climate” and that it was an “opportunity for our two sides to really start communicating.”

Meeting with reporters afterward, Chung said it was a “good conversation.”

“I also spoke with Minister Motegi for some time yesterday evening,” he added.

During the trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting, which was organized by the US, the three sides “assessed the close communication that has taken place among them on the North Korea and North Korean nuclear program issues and agreed to strengthen their cooperation toward substantive progress in achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and establishing permanent peace,” MOFA said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained to Chung and Motegi about the results of the US review of North Korea policy review as previously announced Monday, and the three ministers agreed to continue cooperating and communicating closely in the future implementation of North Korea policy.

The ministry said the ministers had reaffirmed the importance of trilateral cooperation during the meeting and agreed to continue seeking out means of reciprocal, future-oriented cooperation to promote peace, security and prosperity in the region.

The response from Tokyo reported by Japanese media was frosty. According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Motegi demanded “appropriate” measures from Seoul on the court judgment concerning military sexual slavery survivors. He also insisted that the liquidation of Japanese company assets pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling on forced labor mobilization survivors “must be avoided.”

Motegi was further quoted as echoing Tokyo’s previous stance that South Korea was “responsible for coming up with a solution that is acceptable to Japan.”

Another Japanese government official stressed that the meeting was held because the US wanted it.

“Motegi was saving face for the US,” the official was quoted as saying.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]