Cautious optimism emerged for relations between South Korea and Japan, after their leaders agreed Monday to “speed up” negotiations to address one of the thorniest bilateral issues -- Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women.

Analysts said the first summit between President Park Geun-hye and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe was meaningful in itself, as it would offer some momentum toward normalizing relations, which have been strained by historical and territorial disputes. 

“The two leaders have finally met, and they will meet again next year when Japan is to hold the trilateral summit that also involves China. In terms of the normalization of their relations, the summit itself carries considerable meaning,” said Lee Won-deog, Japan expert at Seoul’s Kookmin University.

Lee also noted that Abe indicated he could make some concessions on the issue of Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. His position has been that it was settled completely through a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral relations.

“Abe agreed to accelerate the negotiations, although his consistent position has been that the issue has already been resolved. To put the outcome of the summit in a positive light, this could be an indication of some progress on the issue,” he said.

However, the two leaders failed to set a deadline for resolving the issue. Some observers noted that Abe’s agreement to accelerate negotiations was just a diplomatic gesture to prevent Park, the host of the high-stakes summit, from losing face. 

“What Abe agreed to was something he did to cater to Seoul’s position as he came here as a guest. I believe the possibility of Japan taking relevant action on the sexual slavery issue that meets Seoul’s expectations is very slim,” said Nam Chang-hee, diplomacy professor at Inha University.

“Unless Seoul offers something in return that matches the level of Japan’s potential concessions on the sexual slavery issue, Japan may not change its stance.”

Since April 2014, the two sides have held nine rounds of director-general-level talks over the issue of the victims, euphemistically called comfort women. But no clear progress has been reported so far, indicating the difficulties addressing an issue that Seoul regards as the wartime human rights issue that goes beyond the bilateral issue.

The comfort women issue is one of many issues that have long strained bilateral relations.

Japanese conservative politicians have visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo that honors the Japanese war dead, despite strong protests from Seoul and Beijing. Tokyo has also stepped up its sovereignty claim to Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, which Japan calls Takeshima.

Japan’s distortion of history in school textbooks has also aggravated diplomatic friction. Japan’s moves to push the limits of its pacifist constitution to allow it to exercise the right to collective self-defense and expand its security role have also sparked security concerns to Japan’s onetime colony.

Describing Monday’s summit as a bilateral step to widen the possibilities of settling an array of thorny issues, Nam of Inha University stressed the need for Seoul to employ a well-thought-out policy on Japan rather than applying “only pressure” on it to settle the issues.

“Currently, Japan’s political landscape is not favorable for South Korean diplomacy as Japan’s opposition forces crumbled with conservative politicians dominating both chambers of Japan’s legislature,” he said.

“Thus, to induce some change in Japan’s stance, Seoul needs to employ a smarter approach rather than being too straightforward and ratcheting up pressure on Japan to address the thorny issues. This will not work, even though it did to a certain extent in the 1990s when Japan’s Socialist Party held political influence.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)