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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan (left) shakes hands with President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea ahead of their summit in Seoul on May 26, 2024. (Yonhap)

The Democratic Party forcefully condemned South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s remarks at a bilateral summit Sunday with the Japanese prime minister, where he referred to the situation surrounding the ownership of the Line messenger service as a “separate matter from diplomatic relations.”

The party accused Yoon of “capitulatory diplomacy” over the comments.

Yoon was the first to broach the topic in what was his 10th summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, which took place in his presidential office in Seoul as the two sides participated in a series of bilateral and trilateral summits with China that continued through Monday.

“My understanding is that the administrative guidance by the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was not a demand for Naver as a South Korean business to sell off its stake,” Yoon was quoted as saying by a senior presidential office official.

Yoon also reportedly said his administration “views this as a separate matter from diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan,” adding that the situation needs to be managed so that it does not become a stumbling block to bilateral ties. 

In response, Kishida said the ministry’s administrative guidance was a request for the reexamination of Line’s security governance with respect to a major data leak that had occurred. 

“The South Korean and Japanese governments have been communicating and cooperating on this issue from the earliest stages and will continue communicating closely going forward,” he continued.

After the remarks were reported, Democratic Party spokesperson Hwang Jung-a shared a written briefing in which she denounced Yoon for “representing the Japanese position and condoning a bald-faced lie.”

“He gave away our very future and pride as a digital power,” she wrote.

Hwang also said Yoon “did not raise any real issues with Japan’s shameless abuses, ranging from historical distortions to the plundering of Dokdo and issues with radioactively contaminated water from Fukushima and the seizing of Line.”

“The impression this gives is that the Yongsan presidential office feels like the Office of the Japanese Prime Minister,” she added.

Kishida’s visit to South Korea came a year after the last bilateral summit in Seoul in May 2023. During their meeting Sunday, the two leaders underscored the results from the restoration of shuttle diplomacy in May of last year and resolved to bolster bilateral cooperation in the areas of the economy, foreign affairs and national security.

Yoon was quoted as saying during the summit that “interchange has greatly increased at various levels over the past year based on the solid trust between the two of us.”

With the 60th anniversary of the normalization of South Korea-Japan relations next year, the president reportedly expressed “hope that we can work together and prepare for it to be a historic turning point in ushering South Korea-Japan relations to the next level.”

In response, Kishida was quoted as calling for the two sides to “carry on with shuttle diplomacy based on our relationship of trust as leaders.”

He also said that he and Yoon should “issue instructions within our respective administrations to prepare for a new leap forward in bilateral relations.”

The presidential office further reported that the two leaders agreed to “continue cooperating to generate visible results in fields such as energy, economic security, small businesses and startups, information and communications technology, and advanced technology.” In particular, it said they had agreed to work toward the expansion of global hydrogen supply chains and stabilization of key mineral supply chains through the establishment of a “South Korea-Japan hydrogen cooperation dialogue” and “South Korea-Japan resource cooperation dialogue.”

Also on the horizon is expanded investment in the South Korea-Japan future partnership foundation launched in June 2023 by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and Japan Business Federation, also known as the Keidanren.

Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of South Korea’s National Security Office, explained, “Last year, South Korea invested 1 billion won and Japan invested 100 million yen. This week, Japan preemptively raised an additional 200 million yen.”

“The FKI likewise intends to expand its funding for the partnership foundation and encourage more active exchange among younger members of future generations in both countries,” he added.

Additionally, Kim said that Yoon and Kishida had agreed to “actively involve China” and “strengthen peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region as the three sides seek out new ideas for cooperation in terms of the regional order.”

By Jang Na-rye, staff reporter

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