South Korea's new ambassador to Japan, Kang Chang-il, held a press conference before his assignment, and a court in Seoul ordered the Japanese government to compensate former comfort women. "Both sides must seriously discuss and seek political solutions," he stressed.
In addition to receiving a PhD from the University of Tokyo Graduate School, Kang Chang-il was the chairman of the Korea-Japan Parliamentary Union when he was a member of parliament, and is known as one of the "Chinese-Japanese factions" in Korean politics.
Mr. Kang held an online press conference with the Japanese media on the 17th, before he was appointed as the new ambassador to Japan on the 22nd of this month.
Among them, Mr. Kang said that the current relationship between Japan and South Korea is the worst situation since the normalization of diplomatic relations in 1965, and he also raised the issue of "recruitment" during the Pacific War and stricter export control to South Korea. Based on this, he said, "I learned the lesson that if historical issues are entwined with economic issues, it will not help both sides."
On top of that, Mr. Kang said, "We have serious discussions with each other on our knees and are political," regarding issues between the two countries, such as the response after a court in Seoul ordered the Japanese government to compensate the women of the former comfort women. We have to find a solution. "
On the other hand, as for the concrete solution, he only stated, "We need the will and wisdom to accept the various opinions presented by many experts and take the solution."