Japan cautiously welcomes South Korean president-elect

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government is welcoming the election of a new president in South Korea who supports stronger ties with Washington and Tokyo, as officials and experts express hope for an improvement in badly strained relations. Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative former top prosecutor and foreign policy neophyte, was elected to replace outgoing liberal President Moon Jae-in, under whose leadership bilateral relations sank to their lowest level in years because of disputes over wartime history. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says relations between the neighbors cannot be left that way. But he says Japan will stick to its stance that South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese companies to compensate Korean workers for wartime abuses violate a 1965 treaty.