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Japan¡¯s Ambassador to Korea Toshiyuki Takano (right) on Thursday enters the Foreign Ministry for a dressing-down over remarks by his country¡¯s Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi including that the U.S. ¡°can¡¯t trust South Korea,¡± which have once again strained relations between the two neighbors. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-hyung (left) called for a Japanese apology./Yonhap
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Barely had the Korea-Japan relationship recovered from the worst of a territorial row than it soured again when Seoul took umbrage at reported remarks by Japan¡¯s Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi that the United States is reluctant to share intelligence because it ¡°can¡¯t trust South Korea.¡±
Calling the remarks "very presumptuous," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Man-soo on Thursday demanded Tokyo reprimand the bureaucrat for his ¡°irresponsible speech and conduct." Asked whether Seoul was thinking of canceling a Korea-Japan summit slated for late June, Kim said the government would "wait and see" what Tokyo does.
The Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on the Japanese government "to make a public apology and take appropriate steps to prevent a recurrence." The ministry also called in Japanese Ambassador to Korea Toshiyuki Takano to register a protest.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it had no particular position on reprimanding Yachi because the remarks were not made publicly. Yachi made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Korean lawmakers, who later reported them to the Korean press.
Yachi told reporters on Wednesday evening it was ¡°regrettable¡± that his remarks were leaked, saying if that happened it would make any frank exchange of views impossible. But he did not deny making the statements.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government last week asked former Korean president Kim Dae-jung to give information to Japanese police about his 1973 kidnapping in Tokyo by the Korean secret service. There is speculation that Japanese police made a point of raking up the incident at a time when Korea-Japan relations are souring.
"Japanese police asked for Kim Dae-jung's cooperation during his Japan visit with a view to closing the case," a Foreign Ministry official said. "But former president Kim declined the request as inappropriate, and the Japanese government did not insist."
The former president visited Japan from Sunday to Wednesday to deliver a lecture at Tokyo University.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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