South Korean Ambassador to Tokyo Yun Duk-min said Japan's right wing has shown a positive shift following the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Attending a meeting of the heads of diplomatic missions abroad in Seoul on Monday, Yun said that of the two major right-wing groups in Japan, the one focused on national security is strongly calling for cooperation with South Korea.

The ambassador noted that although Kishida did not express a sentiment of apology himself following Seoul’s plan to compensate victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor using funds donated by domestic firms, he did say that he will uphold the 1998 joint declaration, which contains an expression of remorse over the colonial atrocities.

He also said it was not ideal to neglect strained ties between the two countries with nearly identical strategic interests, adding that he was surprised to find that they voted the same way on UN resolutions 98 percent of the time.