
SEOUL -- South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol used his first Liberation Day speech to call for better ties with its past occupier, Japan.
"We must swiftly and properly improve Korea-Japan relations by upholding the spirit of the Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Declaration, which proposed a blueprint of a comprehensive future for Korea-Japan relations," Yoon said on Monday, in reference to a 1998 joint statement that called for overcoming the past.