Seoul and Tokyo want better relations

Seoul - The Japanese must never forget the suffering of Koreans under Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, the Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Thursday on a visit to Seoul. "I can understand the feelings of the people who were deprived of their nation and had their national pride damaged," he said in reference to the annexation in 1910.

Without directly apologizing for the harshness of colonial rule, he said the current government in Tokyo respected the 1995 declaration of former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, which extended a "heartfelt apology" for causing "tremendous damage and suffering" to nations colonized or invaded by Japan.

Okada said after talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yu Myung Hwan, that he and Yu agreed that relations between their two countries had to be developed and that both parties wanted to find a solution to past problems.

"I believe we must move toward building a truly friendly and future-oriented relationship for the next 100 years to come," Okada said.

Relations between the neighbors have improved gradually in recent years despite a dispute over Japan's stance on its wartime behavior.

Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula is still keenly felt by Koreans, and many still want a formal apology from Japan.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/308653,seoul-and-tokyo-want-better-relations.html.