According to a report on com on January 14, a number of Japanese and South Korean diplomatic sources revealed on the 13th that the Japanese and South Korean governments have begun to coordinate the holding of online diplomatic department director-level consultations as soon as this week.
The two sides will discuss how to deal with the ruling of the Central District Court of Seoul, South Korea, ordering the Japanese government to compensate in the former comfort women lawsuit. Japan intends to demand once again that the South Korean side take measures to correct it on the grounds that the judgment violates international law.
The South Korean government has expressed its respect for the judgment, and it is expected that the two sides will stick to their own ideas during the consultations.
Kenyu Fungoshi, Director of Asia and Oceania Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Kim Ting-han, Director of Asia-Pacific Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, will attend the meeting.
The last Japan-South Korea director-level consultation was held in South Korea last October.
The original comfort women’s lawsuit judgment, which will usher in the appeal deadline at 00:00 a.m.
on the 23rd of this month, will become the biggest point of debate in this consultation. In view of Prime Minister Yoshihiro Kan’s statement that the sentence was “absolutely unacceptable”, Japan will ask the South Korean government to take measures such as declaring null and void under international law.
