South Korean prime minister to meet Abe on Thursday during trip to Japan

This undated file photo shows South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. (Yonhap)

Seoul: South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon plans to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday as part of efforts to improve the frosty relations between Seoul and Tokyo, his office said.

Lee will visit Japan from Tuesday to Thursday to attend the Japanese emperor’s enthronement event amid frayed ties between South Korea and Japan over the issue of Tokyo’s wartime forced labor.

Consultations are under way to set the details of the meeting, but it is likely to take place on Thursday for about 10-20 minutes, an official at Lee’s office said Friday.

It will be the first high-level meeting between the two nations since diplomatic tensions flared up over the Korean top court’s 2018 rulings over Japan’s forced labor during the 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.

Since July, Japan has imposed export curbs against its neighbor in apparent retaliation for the South Korean top court’s 2018 rulings that Japanese firms should compensate Korean victims of Tokyo’s wartime forced labor.

YONHAP