SEOUL -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in touched on wartime issues related to Japan in his speech on Friday, but avoided directly addressing such issues as so-called comfort women and the Takeshima islands in Shimane Prefecture. Moon made his remarks in Seoul during a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule.
Moon discussed comfort women and the Takeshima islands in his speech at the ceremony last year. The omission this year could signal his consideration for the deteriorating bilateral relationship when drafting his speech.
However, Moon stated Friday that South Korea and Japan will only become "genuine friends with heart-to-heart understanding" when "the pain of victims is substantively healed through concerted efforts."
"Victims" could refer to former Korean requisitioned workers and comfort women. Moon has expressed the view that wartime issues related to both have yet to be solved.
In reference to the March First Independence Movement, Moon expressed anxiety that some Koreans who allegedly collaborated with Japan during the colonial era retain influence in South Korean society, stating, "wiping out the vestiges of pro-Japanese collaborators is a long-overdue undertaking."
While Moon emphasized that South Korea does not seek to "create issues for diplomatic conflicts with a neighboring country," he added that the "acts of pro-Japanese collaborators are what should be repented, and the independence movement is what should be honored and respected."
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