<Anchor>



I've heard stories from the US and China in turn, and this time, I'll finally connect Tokyo, Japan.



Correspondent Park Sang-jin and Yun Seok-yeol's government on the first day of inauguration, what kind of message came out of Japan?



<Reporter> The



Japanese government sincerely congratulated Yun Seok-yeol on the inauguration of President Yoon Seok-yeol, and said that the deteriorating relations between Korea and Japan cannot be left as it is.



He also said that he would consult with high-level officials at a speedy pace.



[Hirokazu Matsuno / Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan: A healthy Korea-Japan relationship is also essential for securing regional and global peace, stability and prosperity.

I am looking forward to the leadership of President Yun.]



Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi, who attended the inauguration ceremony on the 10th, delivered a personal letter from Prime Minister Kishida to President Yun Seok-yeol, and yesterday met with foreign minister candidate Park Jin and requested a visit to Japan.



Japan, which has expressed Korea-Japan relations with the Moon Jae-in administration as the worst after the war, appears to be trying to restore relations with the newly launched Yoon Seok-yeol administration.



<Anchor>



Both countries face the task of unraveling the current tangled relationship between Korea and Japan. Can we expect a change in the future?



<Reporter>



Yes, resolving historical issues such as forced mobilization and military comfort women does not seem easy.



Japan is adhering to the position that the issue of victims of forced labor and the comfort women issue in the Japanese military is over with the 1965 Korea-Japan Claims Agreement and the 2015 South Korea-Japan Comfort Women Agreement.



However, President Yun Seok-yeol is very motivated to restore Korea-Japan relations, and Japan also needs to improve relations with South Korea amid worsening US-China relations and North Korea's missile threat.



The two countries will first focus on revitalizing people-to-people exchanges by resuming flights between Gimpo and Haneda, and they are expected to find a breakthrough in improving relations in earnest after Korea's local elections next month and the Japanese House of Councilors elections scheduled for July.



(Video coverage: Hyunjin Moon, video editing: Hyeyoung Choi)