Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told South Koreans on Sunday that his “heart aches” at the suffering and pain inflicted on them under Japanese colonial rule, alluding to historical disputes that have soured relations between the two US allies.

Fumio Kishida is in Seoul on Sunday to visit the South Korean capital for the first time in 12 years in response to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to Tokyo in March, during which the two countries tried to close contact. a chapter in the historical controversy that has dominated relations between Japan and South Korea for several decades.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference after meeting Yun, Kishida refrained from issuing a new formal apology for abuses committed during the 1910-1945 occupation, but said his government was inheriting the position of previous administrations, some of which had apologized, the Reuters and Agerpres agencies.

“It breaks my heart personally when I think of the many people who suffered terribly and were abused in the difficult circumstances of that time,” he said, without elaborating.

“Cooperation and coordination between South Korea and Japan are important”

For his part, the South Korean president said that unresolved historical issues should not mean that steps cannot be taken to deepen ties in the face of a growing international crisis, and that he wants relations between the two countries to be better than ever. .

A senior presidential official in Seoul said Kishida’s remarks were not pre-agreed, and Yoon thanked him for “showing an honest position even though no such request was made,” adding that it would be “very helpful for future cooperation.”

Commitments by Seoul and Tokyo to strengthen cooperation have been hailed by the US as a way to better counter threats from North Korea and competition from China.

“Cooperation and coordination between South Korea and Japan is important not only for the common interests of the two countries, but also for world peace and prosperity in the context of the current difficult international situation,” Yoon said at the opening of their meeting.

“Most South Koreans believe that Japan did not apologize enough”

One of the topics on the agenda of the Japanese prime minister’s visit to South Korea should be security cooperation, especially in view of the nuclear threat from North Korea, said Shin Wa Lee, a professor of international relations at Korea University.

“We have many opportunities for cooperation to counter the (North Korean) threat” and ensure an open Indo-Pacific region, a Japanese foreign ministry official said.

However, the historical disputes between Seoul and Tokyo still cast a shadow on the development of ties between the two capitals, reports Reuters.

Historical disputes over Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula continue to pit the two countries against each other, particularly over a group of rocky islets that South Korea and Japan continue to dispute, and the issue of “comfort women” that forced Korean women to work in brothels set up for Japanese soldiers. of the Imperial Army and Navy during World War II.

According to Shin-wa Lee, most South Koreans believe that Japan has not apologized enough for atrocities committed during the occupation, according to Reuters.