Japan's apology last week for its annexation and colonial rule of Korea was "highly meaningful," and Tokyo needs to make "earnest efforts" toward improving bilateral relations with Seoul, South Korea's top diplomat said Monday.
In his contribution to a local English-language newspaper, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-
hwan said last Tuesday's statement by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan was "timely and appropriate," as it marked the centenary of Japan's annexation of Korea.
"This statement is highly meaningful as the first ever Japanese prime minister's statement
specifically addressed only to Korea," Yu wrote in the piece.
Kan offered his feelings of "deep remorse" and "heartfelt apology" for the sufferings the
1910-1945 colonial rule caused the Korean people, and acknowledged that the rule was "imposed against (Korean people's) will under the political and military circumstances."
A similar apology by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995 was addressed broadly to Asian nations.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has said Kan's apology represented "a step forward," but stressed the importance of taking action commensurate with the apology.
Yu also took note of Kan's expressed intentions to continue bilateral humanitarian
cooperation, which includes supporting ethnic Koreans on Sakhalin Island of Russia and returning the remains of Korean draftees in Japan. Kan also said Japan will quickly return
Korean cultural relics, including the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) royal documents called "Uigwe."
"Koreans hope the Japanese people as a whole will share this spirit highlighted in Prime
Minister Kan's statement," Yu said.
The minister also said for South Korea and Japan to become even closer, "reconciliation
must be made between the past and the present."
"This will only be achieved through the earnest efforts on the part of Japan to heal the
wounds remaining in the hearts of the Korean people," Yu said. "In this regard, the Korean people have high expectations for the current Japanese government and Prime Minister Kan ... At this symbolic and meaningful juncture -- the centenary of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula -- sincere efforts toward this end will
undoubtedly lay a firm foundation for Korea-Japan relations to advance in building a new future."