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The vice foreign ministers of Korea and Japan will meet for talks in Seoul on Wednesday,
for the first time in eight months. But with Korea continuing its demand that
Tokyo must first apologize for its wartime crimes,... no one is holding much hope...
of the two neighbors mending their frosty ties.
Our Hwang Sung-hee has more. Amid souring ties between South Korea and
Japan, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki will arrive in Seoul Wednesday for talks
with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yong. Wednesday's talks will be the first vice ministerial-level
meeting between the two neighboring countries in eight months, but Seoul's foreign ministry
says it's not a sign of thawing ties.
"The South Korean government repeated several times what steps Japan must take for progress
in Korea-Japan ties."
Japan has yet to officially apologize for its wartime *** enslavement of roughly
200-thousand women in the early 20th century. In an interview with Japan's Mainichi Shimbun
Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua called out Tokyo for its lack of responsibility
over historical issues. Speaking about why the annual trilateral summit
between South Korea, China and Japan did not take place last year, the Chinese diplomat
blamed Japan and said he does not see such a meeting happening in the near future.
But U.S. President Barack Obama will try to mediate when he visits Seoul and Tokyo for
summit talks in April. Washington wants its two allies to put history
behind them, concerned the intensifying friction will affect their trilateral alliance.
Ahead of President Obama's trip, the three leaders will meet at the end of this month
in the Hague for the Nuclear Security Summit.
"Some point to the possibility of a trilateral summit, but the chances of the two neighbors
shaking hands are slim. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has made
it perfectly clear... she will not sit down with a leader who fails to acknowledge his
country's historical wrongdoing. Hwang Sung-hee, Arirang News."