The No. 2 man in JapanтАЩs ruling Liberal Democratic Party told South Korean lawmakers on Wednesday that Japan will welcome President Moon Jae-inтАЩs visit for the opening of the Tokyo Olympics next week regardless of the two nationsтАЩ frosty relations, party members said.
LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai asked Kim Jin Pyo, who leads the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians Union, in their meeting in Tokyo to tell Moon that he hopes for the presidentтАЩs visit to the Japanese capital, they said.
тАЬWe will welcome him,тАЭ Nikai was quoted as saying at the meeting held at the LDP headquarters.
Kim said the South Korean presidentтАЩs visit is currently under consideration.
Before the meeting, the South Korean lawmakers and members of JapanтАЩs counterpart group discussed ways to cooperate for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and improve bilateral relations which have sunk to the lowest level in decades over wartime history.
Seishiro Eto, acting chairman of the Japanese bipartisan group aimed at promoting ties with South Korea, said the two countries have been significantly contributing to AsiaтАЩs peace and stability and called for further efforts to that end.
Calling for a dialogue between the two countries, Kim said, тАЬWe should discuss ways to resolve many challenging issues between South Korea and Japan especially at a difficult time like this.тАЭ
Japan-South Korea relations remain strained due largely to a feud over wartime compensation.
Tension between the countries has escalated since 2018 when South KoreaтАЩs top court ordered a Japanese company to pay compensation for forced labor during JapanтАЩs 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Japan maintains the issue of compensation was settled when the countries established ties under a 1965 agreement.
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