The Korea Herald

지나쌤

S. Korea, Japan to resume high-level economic talks

By Yonhap

Published : Dec. 3, 2023 - 10:29

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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their talks in San Francisco on Nov. 16, on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. (Yonhap) South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their talks in San Francisco on Nov. 16, on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. (Yonhap)

South Korea and Japan are expected to resume high-level economic talks later this month after nearly eight years of suspension due to tensions over wartime sexual slavery and other rows, diplomatic sources said Sunday.

The resumption of the Korea-Japan High-Level Economic Consultation is the latest in a series of measures the two countries have taken amid warming relations in the wake of the resolution of the wartime forced labor issue earlier this year.

During a summit in Lithuania's Vilnius in July, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed to resume the economic talks and have since reaffirmed the commitment in two follow-up summits in August and last month.

Diplomatic sources said the two sides have agreed to hold a new meeting in Seoul later this month.

First launched in 1999, the forum had since been held alternately in South Korea and Japan before being suspended following the 14th session in Tokyo in January 2016 due to tensions over the issue of wartime sexual slavery.

On Friday, the two countries also clinched a $10 billion currency swap deal eight years after the former deal ended. (Yonhap)