"Nothing Is Decided" Park Soo-hyun on the Japanese Press Coverage of a South Korea-Japan Summit on July 23

[경향신문]

Senior Cheongwadae Secretary for Public Communication Park Soo-hyun shares his thoughts on his inauguration at the press briefing room in Chunchugwan, Cheongwadae last May. Yonhap News

Park Soo-hyun, senior Cheongwadae secretary for public communication said, “Nothing has been decided yet,” on the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun report on July 19 claiming that President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga would hold the first in-person summit in Tokyo on July 23, when the Olympic Games open in Tokyo.

This day, Park appeared on CBS radio’s Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show and said, “The position we have maintained so far is the strong regret we expressed on the Japanese government taking advantage of certain media outlets to announce a certain political position.” Park also said, “We cannot accept such handling of the issue (summit), slipping in their position like this,” and stressed, “We maintain our position that nothing has been decided.”

Park stated that he received no official notice from the Japanese government in connection to the Yomiuri Shimbun report that the Japanese government planned to replace Hirohisa Soma, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in South Korea, who made a controversial comment, a sexual remark concerning President Moon. Park said, “Cheongwadae’s position on this issue is that we are angry along with our citizens,” and added, “We are considering the comment, with the door open to both possibilities--the shortcoming of an individual or the perspective of the Suga cabinet in viewing the Republic of Korea.”

As for President Moon’s trip to Japan. Park said, “We promoted it with the belief that the president’s way must be different for the national interest of the Republic of Korea,” and explained, “We were waiting for Japan to show up with the same good will, future-oriented attitude and thinking with which we treated Japan.”

When the host of the show asked if the replacement of Soma or other rightful measures were a condition (for the president’s trip to Japan), Park said, “What is more important and more essential is that ultimately, we will decide after we review how Japan answers with the good will and sincerity, which President Moon and the Republic of Korea extended to Japan.”

Park also said, “We think it will be difficult for the Japanese government to announce its official position or take actual measures (on Soma) before our president decides (on his trip to Japan) before the Olympics.” He continued and said, “Even if actual measures are not taken, if the Japanese government’s official position is delivered according to procedures, we think that will be some kind of response from the Japanese government to our president’s good will.”

Park further explained that due to working-level details, the decision on the summit would have to be made by this day. The senior secretary said, “Japan requests people entering from overseas to remain in quarantine for three days,” and added, “If we hold the summit, the staff will have to leave tomorrow. So the general and practical view is that a decision must be made by today.”

When asked if at the working-level things were leaning toward holding the summit, Park said, “I can’t answer that we are,” and reaffirmed that nothing was decided yet. Park said, “We are working, even at this moment, to deliver the good news that we have decided to hold a good summit for the practical development of bilateral relations to the people.”