아베 "위안부합의 이행요청하라" 지시에 日대사 "전력 다할 것"
The Japanese ambassador to Seoul is returned to South Korea.
It's not as a sign of thawing relations, but rather it's a move driven by the urgency to save the controversial 2015 landmark deal on wartime sex slavery issue.
That agreement, enraged many Koreans, including those affected by the tragedy.
With the new South Korean president likely to be from the liberal side, scrappint it is high on the agenda.
Connie Kim takes a closer look.
The Japanese envoy will shoulder a major task when he comes back to South Korea.
Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagmine and consul general Yasuhiro Morimoto were recalled to Tokyo in protest of a statue honoring the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery set up by a civic group in Korea's southeastern port city of Busan.
Japan's NHK reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe directed Nagamine to ask Seoul to carry out the 2015 landmark agreement on the so-called 'comfort women',… and the Japanese envoy replied that he will do his best.
Nagamine is also said to have told reporters that he is coordinating to speak directly to South Korea's acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn to resolve this issue.
While South Korea said it anticipates close communication with Tokyo upon the envoy's return,.. it clarified its stance on Nagamine's meeting with any South Korean official.
"Regarding Nagamine's meeting with senior officials including those from the Foreign Ministry, we will decide whether to do it or not once we have an official request from the Japanese side."
The diplomats' return to South Korea was a rather abrupt one. Japan apparently decided it needed to gather information on the candidates in the country's snap presidential elections next month and on the growing North Korea threats.
"With a progressive administration likely to come in, it seems Japan decided it needs to respond to changes in domestic politics,... with the benefits of sending its envoy back outweighing the losses."
The prospects for bilateral ties are cloudy, with most experts expecting a deterioration in relations because most of the leading presidential candidates want to scrap or renegotiate the 2015 deal.
Connie Kim, Arirang News.
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