ⓒYONHAP News

President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol's policy consultation delegation to Japan returned from a five-day trip on Thursday.

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chung Jin-suk told reporters that the delegation will work to ensure the incoming Yoon government takes measures to follow up on issues discussed with Japanese officials.

The chief delegate said that Japan remains unchanged about its export controls against South Korea and voiced opposition to a South Korean court ruling that compensation be provided for forced labor victims through the seizure and selling of Japanese corporate assets.

However, Chung that the two sides agreed to work toward a future-oriented and mutually beneficial relationship.

The delegation met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and about 50 Japanese figures.

The meeting with the Japanese prime minister began at 10:40 a.m. and lasted for about 25 minutes.  

The policy delegation team also hand delivered a letter to Kishida from South Korea's incoming president. 

Regarding the letter's content, the chief delegate said Yoon likely expressed his intent to establish new relations by upholding the spirit of a past agreement between President Kim Dae-jung and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

The two former leaders had declared a new bilateral partnership in 1998 that called for Tokyo's apology over its colonial occupation of Korea and the development of forward-looking relations.

Chung said Kishida expressed support for inheriting the spirit of that declaration.

He said Seoul also stressed the importance of restoring trust and expanding personnel exchanges which were suspended amid the pandemic.

Chung said he also proposed continued diplomatic efforts to bilaterally resolve the wartime issues of forced labor and sexual slavery.

Meanwhile, news emerged that the Japanese government is reportedly making arrangements that do not include the Japanese Prime Minister’s attendance at the inauguration of South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol.

Japan's Sankei Shimbun issued the report on Friday, citing multiple Japanese government officials.

The daily paper said that while there have been growing expectations in South Korea for Kishida's attendance at the inauguration, Tokyo believes it is premature for the prime minister to visit Seoul since South Korea has yet to present solutions to the unresolved issues related to Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery and forced labor.

The report said the Japanese government is considering sending its foreign minister Hayashi Yoshimasa or other Cabinet ministers to Yoon's inauguration.