President Moon Jae-in will not visit Japan for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics this week, effectively ruling out his first one-on-one summit with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Communication Park Soo-hyun announced the decision on Monday, negating an earlier report by Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun that said Moon plans to attend the Olympic event and also hold a summit with the Japanese prime minister. 

Secretary Park said the two countries made meaningful discussions on pending historical issues and on the direction of future-oriented cooperation while keeping in mind the possibility of holding a bilateral summit in time for the Tokyo Games. 

Park said, although their differences in understanding of the issues have been considerably narrowed, it was still insufficient to be considered a potential outcome of a summit. He added all other related situations were taken into account before the decision was reached. 

A long-standing diplomatic discord between the two countries was further aggravated by a recent remark by the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, describing the South Korean president seeking to improve bilateral ties as a man satisfying himself.  

Earlier in the day, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato had expressed regret over the sexual innuendo, saying it was very inappropriate for a diplomat under any circumstance or context. But Tokyo has yet to announce repercussions for the Japanese diplomat. 

Park said the South Korean government hopes Tokyo will hold a safe and successful Olympics as it is a peace festival for the world's people.