Chronologies
Japan - Korea
Chronology from Jan 2019 to May 2019
: North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a summit meeting.
: Japan’s Diplomatic Bluebook drops the goal of maximizing pressure on North Korea, while describing its relations with Seoul as “very difficult” due to South Korea’s negative activities.
: Lawyers representing Korean plaintiffs against Japanese company Nachi-Fujikoshi say they seized the company’s assets in South Korea based on the court ruling.
: Japan and South Korea hold the working-level consultations in Seoul to discuss the court ruling on forced labor with no tangible outcome.
: Japan rescinds its annual motion to the UN condemning North Korea’s human rights record, “given U.S. efforts to end North Korea’s weapons program and other factors.”
: President Moon delivers a speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement, avoiding direct criticism of the Japanese government.
: Asahi Shimbun reports that Japan and South Korea agreed to suspend all senior-level defense exchange programs for the first half of 2019.
: Funeral procession for Kim Bok-dong, leader of the “comfort women” protest movement, marches through Seoul and stops in front of the Japanese Embassy.
: Prime Minister Abe delivers his annual policy address during the regular session of Japan’s Diet. He does not mention Japan’s ties with South Korea.
: South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense releases photographic evidence to prove its claim. Tokyo challenges the claim.
: South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense lodges a complaint with Japan that a Japanese patrol aircraft flew at a low altitude near a South Korean warship.
: Japanese SDF patrol plane flies within close proximity of a South Korean naval vessel in the East China Sea. Japanese FM Kono and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha meet on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum to address the incident.
: South Korea’s Supreme Court upholds a compensation order against Nachi-Fujukoshi Corp. over forced labor.
: South Korean and Japanese military authorities hold working-level talks in Singapore to address their conflicting claims about Japan’s patrol aircraft’s low-altitude flyby and South Korea’s use of radar against it.
: Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide expresses his regrets that President Moon’s remarks tries to shift South Korea’s responsibility to Japan. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry expresses a disappointment at Suga’s remark.
: Japan officially requests talks with the South Korean government to address the court ruling on forced laborers.
: President Moon Jae-in addresses the question of South Korean court ruling on forced labor in his New Year’s press conference, stating that the government “cannot involve itself in judicial decisions,” and urges Japan to “adopt a position of humility.”
: Japan’s Foreign Ministry lodges a protest with South Korean Ambassador to Tokyo Lee Su-hoon over the court ruling on forced laborers.
: Prime Minister Abe Shinzo appears on NHK’s “Sunday Debate” and expresses his deep regrets over South Korean plaintiffs seeking to seize Japanese companies’ assets.
: Foreign Ministers Kono and Kang discuss the forced labor issue and the radar lock dispute in a phone conversation.
: South Korea posts a video to refute Japan’s claim that South Korea’s warship locked its fire-control radar on Japan’s patrol aircraft.
: South Korea indicates it will release its own video regarding the naval incident.
: South Korea calls on Japan to apologize for Japanese patrol plane’s “menacing” flight near the South Korean warship.