Seoul welcomes Abe’s offer to visit during Winter Olympics
SEOUL, (MILLAT ONLINE)::The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s offer to visit South Korea, possibly to attend the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, Yonhap reported.
“The government welcomes Japan’s official notification of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s trip to South Korea,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing.
According to Yonhap the remarks came hours after the Japanese Embassy here requested discussions with Seoul to arrange the Japanese leader’s visit. The request followed weeks of speculation that the Japanese leader won’t attend the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, citing his objections to what he has called an unacceptable attempt by Seoul to undermine a 2015 settlement on Japan’s wartime sexual slavery of Korean women.
Under the controversial deal, Seoul’s former government agreed to “finally and irreversibly” end the decades-old dispute in exchange for Japan’s apology and contribution of 10 billion yen (US$9.07 million) to a fund set up to support the victims.
The Moon Jae-in administration has declared the deal flawed. Seoul did not seek to renegotiate the terms of the agreement but said Japan needs to make a sincere apology.
“Our government hopes to closely cooperate with the Japanese government so Prime Minister Abe’s South Korea trip will lead to the future-oriented development of the relationship between the two countries,” the Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said.
The PyeongChang Olympics are slated for Feb. 9-25, with the Paralympic Games scheduled to be held from March 9-18.