South Korean President Moon Jae-in Welcomes PM Suga's Appointment With "Make Up" Invitation

South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Twitter / @ moonriver)

JAKARTA - The election of Yoshihide Suga as Prime Minister of Japan immediately attracted the attention of South Korea (South Korea). In person, South Korean President Moon Jae-in invited Suga to sit together to normalize the relationship between the two countries from historical and economic disputes.

The statement was made by South Korea on Wednesday, September 16. In his letter to Suga, Moon revealed that Japan and South Korea could cooperate in various strategic interests of the two countries. Moreover, Japan is South Korea's closest brother geographically and culturally.

“Our government plans to actively cooperate with the Suga government. This is in order to resolve past historical disputes and strengthen practical cooperation, ”said Kang Min-seok, spokesman for the South Korean Presidential Building.

Kang also added that the cooperation South Korea wanted to build also covered economic issues and the exchange of experts from the two countries. As a form of seriousness, Kang emphasized that the president had sent a letter to Suga's predecessor, Shinzo Abe. In the letter, Moon wished Abe a speedy recovery from his illness.

방역 과 경제 어느 것 하나 소홀히 할 수 없습니다. 방역 이 /t.co/uInzXBq9JF pic.twitter.com/rFHXBmNtxg

- 문재인 (@ moonriver365) September 14, 2020

Historically, relations between Japan and South Korea have deteriorated since 1910. At that time, disputes originated because of the Japanese occupation of South Korea from 1910-1945. To make matters worse, the South Korean Supreme Court ordered Japan to pay compensation for the forced labor of its people during World War II.

Not only that, the relationship between the two heated up again last year. The reason is none other than because Japan will stop preferential treatment to South Korea for sending high-tech raw materials.

This actually cornered South Korea even more. This is because large companies in South Korea such as Samsung Electronics Co. very dependent on the raw materials sent by Japan.