Japan-South Korea Summit in Doubt after Japanese Diplomat’s Remarks

A potential summit between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and South Korean President Moon Jae-in later this week in Tokyo has been thrown into doubt after a Japanese diplomat made inappropriate comments about the South Korean leader. 

Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported Monday the two leaders would meet Friday in the Japanese capital to coincide with President Moon’s attendance at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics.    But a statement released by South Korea’s Presidential Blue House, Moon’s official residence and office, suggested the meeting was in doubt due to an “obstacle” in the final discussions, an apparent reference to a comment by a high-level envoy attached to the Japanese embassy in Seoul.    The envoy, identified by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency as Hirohisa Soma, the embassy’s deputy chief of mission, reportedly compared Moon’s efforts to improve ties with Seoul to sexual self-gratification during an interview with a local reporter.