South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol spoke about his country's relations with Japan in an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday.
Relations between the Asian neighbors have been strained, mainly due to issues relating to Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
When I am president, South Korea-Japan relations will go well. Yoon, who is going to take office on May 10, said I am sure of it.
While noting that people in South Korea have traumatic memories of the Japanese colonial rule, Yoon said the more important thing is that we look at the future. He said that dragging the decades-old colonial rule back onto the table hurts the bilateral relationship between South Korea and Japan.
He pointed out that better relations between the two countries will improve trilateral cooperation between South Korea, Japan, and the United States and bilateral cooperation between South Korea and the United States.
Our weakened relationship with Japan is the Achilles heel of South Korea-U. South Koreans are averse to direct damage to South Korea-U. Yoon said there was a relationship between the S. and Yoon.
A future-oriented development of South Korea-Japan relations is beneficial for both Japan and the people in South Korea, Yoon said.
The diplomatic and economic issues in bilateral relations should not be dragged into domestic politics for political exploitation, underlining his opposition to taking advantage of anti-Japanese sentiment among the public.