FM Yun to seek trust

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will focus on building mutual trust in his upcoming trip to Japan, rather than seeking a specific deal, a senior ministry official said Thursday.

Yun plans to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon. He is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his two-day stay there, although no schedule has been fixed yet.

Yun's visit is aimed at paving the way for "unraveling a complicated problem and taking one step forward in South Korea-Japan ties, with a big, strategic road map in mind ," the official told reporters in a background briefing.

It is part of efforts to "build mutual trust on a gradual basis," he added.

"Timing matters in diplomacy," he pointed out, referring to the 50th anniversary next week of the normalization of their diplomatic relations.

"The main purpose of Yun's trip is to attend an anniversary event. It will also provide a chance to talk about various pending issues in a natural and frank manner," said the official.

South Korea is pressing Japan to resolve the issue of its legal responsibility for the sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II. President Park Geun-hye said last week the two sides have made "considerable progress" on relevant negotiations, which are now on the homestretch.

But the ministry official said they still have remaining differences to iron out and it's premature to predict when a deal will be produced.

Seoul is also calling on Tokyo to clearly reveal another wartime atrocity of forcibly conscripting Koreans to work at its mines, shipyards and other facilities in connection with a push to have those locations listed as UNESCO world heritage sites.

The official stressed that Yun will endeavor to lay the groundwork for improved ties between the two nations and broader regional cooperation including the resumption of a three-way summit with China within this year.

Japan also agreed there is a need for a breakthrough in its strained relations with South Korea this year, which also marks the 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 35-year colonial rule, he added. (Yonhap)

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