The leaders of South Korea and Japan putting aside years of animosity to meet is a “big advancement”, but the repairing of ties faces obstacles along the way, analysts said on Friday (Mar 17), a day after the summit took place in Tokyo.

Among the challenges is public opinion in South Korea, said Dr Mireya Solís, director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at Brookings Institution, a non-profit public policy organisation based in the United States.

“The public in South Korea is not very supportive and South Korea has very polarised domestic politics,” she told CNA’s Asia First.