Japan seeks to enhance ties with S. Korea after Park’s impeachment

Tokyo remains committed to enhancing security cooperation with Seoul to address the rising North Korean nuclear threat, Japanese officials said Friday, after South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary motion to impeach President Park Geun Hye earlier in the day. (Photo: inu-photo/Flickr)

TOKYO—Tokyo remains committed to enhancing security cooperation with Seoul to address the rising North Korean nuclear threat, Japanese officials said Friday, after South Korea’s Constitutional Court upheld a parliamentary motion to impeach President Park Geun Hye earlier in the day.

Japan will also cautiously see how South Korean politics evolve after the ousting of Park, at a time when relations between the two Asian neighbors remain strained over history issues, including over “comfort women,” many of them Koreans, who were forced to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military.

“Japan needs to promote cooperation with the new (South Korean) government in various areas,” Kishida told reporters shortly after the South Korean court released its decision, which ousts Park from office over a swirling corruption and abuse-of-power scandal.