S.Korea urges improved ties with Japan on freedom anniversary

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea must get over historical disputes along with Japan and attain peace with Northern Korea as important steps towards bolstering the stability and security of the North Asian region, Southern Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said upon Monday.

Speaking at a wedding ceremony to mark the particular 1945 end of Japan’s colonial guideline of the Korean peninsula, Yoon said Tokyo had become a companion in tackling risks to global freedom, and urged both nations to overcome disputes dating to those days.

“When Korea-Japan relationships move towards a common future and when the mission of our moments align, based on our shared universal beliefs, it will also help us solve the historical problems, ” this individual said in comments prepared for delivery.

Relations between the U. T. allies have been stretched over disputes for example Korean accusations that Japan forced women to work in wartime brothels for its military, and the use of forced labour, among additional abuses.

Yoon, a traditional who took office in May, has promised to improve ties along with Japan.

He called for intensive co-operation in areas from economics plus security to social and cultural trades, to help contribute to international peace and prosperity.

Yoon repeated a guarantee to provide North Korea with wide-ranging help if Pyongyang halted development of its nuclear program and set out on a “genuine and substantive” process of getting rid of such weapons.

“We will implement a large-scale food program; supply assistance for power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure; and carry out projects in order to modernise ports plus airports for global trade, ” Yoon said.

The South is also ready to help boost its neighbours’ farm productivity, modernize hospitals and healthcare facilities, and take steps for international expense and financial support, he added within the English translation associated with his remarks.

Northern Korea has blamed the South for causing its COVID-19 outbreak – which Seoul denies – and appears to be preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the first time since 2017, amid stalled denuclearisation talks.

The two nations technically remain from war, since their own 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, rather than a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)