MOON NOT TO VISIT TOKYO

[Anchor Lead]

President Moon Jae-in has decided not to visit Tokyo for the Olympic Games. As a result, he will not hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. While Seoul and Tokyo failed to narrow down their differences over the agenda for the summit, a high-ranking Japanese diplomat’s controversial remark added to the difficult situation. It seems the two countries will unlikely find a way to improve their relations before President Moon leaves office.

[Pkg]

Seoul and Tokyo continued negotiations, until the opening of the Tokyo Olympics was just four days away. But President Moon Jae-in opted not to visit Tokyo for the Summer Games. As a result, his first in-person summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will not be held. The two countries made progress in discussions over Japan’s export curbs targeting South Korea. But there remained distinct differences regarding historical issues so it seemed difficult to expect the summit would produce meaningful outcomes on key topics.

[Soundbite] Park Soo-hyun(Presidential Secretary for Public Communication) : "Despite considerable understanding and progress, it was still insufficient to be considered an outcome of a summit. We reached the decision after taking into account other related situations."

The situation was further aggravated after the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul used inappropriate sexual comment directed at President Moon to compare the current situation. Describing the remarks as unacceptable, the presidential office turned skeptical about the envisaged summit. The top office also took into consideration the Japanese government’s lukewarm response and reluctance to replace the diplomat in question immediately. Tokyo just expressed regret over the innuendo.

[Soundbite] Yoshihide Suga(Japanese Prime Minister) : "It was very inappropriate for a diplomat. It’s regrettable."

While saying the decision might be disappointing, an official from the presidential office promised that South Korea will work to communicate with Japan until the end of the Moon administration. However, it seems unlikely the two countries will find an opportunity again to improve their ties before President Moon leaves office. It is known that they maintained huge differences over historical issues, with Japan insisting that South Korea should come up with solutions to their long-standing feud. The country's culture minister Hwang Hee will attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics as the representative of the South Korean government.