NEWSCENTER
After a three-and-half year freeze, the leaders of Korea and Japan sit down for their very first one-on-one. Seoul′s presidential office says the two heads of state agreed to make efforts to settle the so-called comfort women issue at an early date.
Defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. vow zero tolerance for any provocation by North Korea. They want Pyongyang to immediately cease all activities related to its nuclear program.
AND...
Who works the longest hours in the world? Not a surprise if you work in Korea, but this country puts the most hours in... only behind number one Mexico. Find out why....
It′s Monday, November 2nd, 2015.
Good evening to those of you in Korea and hello to our viewers around the world.
Title: President Park, Abe hold first-ever summit
Earlier this Monday, President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sat down for their first-ever bilateral summit.
The meeting came after a three-and-a-half year freeze... and with thorny matters such as the decades-old issue of the Japanese military′s enslavement of women leading up to and during World War II.
Our presidential office correspondent Hwang Sung-hee reports. Topping the agenda at President Park′s first-ever summit with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was Japan′s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women.
At the start of the talks, President Park expressed her hopes for the summit.
"I hope today′s summit can be a broad yet sincere meeting to heal the painful wounds of the past so it can be a valuable opportunity for advancing bilateral relations."
However, Prime Minister Abe′s focus was on building a future-oriented relationship with Seoul.
"I think highly of the steps we took in Japan-Korea relations over the last 50 years. I am willing to work with President Park to open a new era for a future-oriented Japan-Korea relationship."
More than 200-thousand women, mostly Korean, were forced to serve the Japanese military before and during World War Two.
And, with only 47 comfort women remaining in Korea, President Park urged for a swift resolution, calling it the biggest stumbling block to their bilateral relations.
The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae said the two leaders agreed to work on the issue.
"The two leaders acknowledged that this year marks the 50th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic ties and commanded that the comfort women talks be sped up so the issue can be resolved as early as possible."
Other agenda items included increasing cooperation on countering North Korean threats as well as Korea′s possible joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Prime Minister Abe said he was closely following Korea′s movements regarding the 12-nation trade pact that includes Japan, and the U.S.
The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae says Monday′s summit was meaningful as it paved the way for resolving historical issues... and laid the groundwork for further progress in bilatera
