Reconstructing Neighborhood

While some call it olive's branch from one side, the deal has anyway been made on consecutive and deliberate talks between both sides, hoping immediate reconstruction of broken relations. The government of Republic of Korea announced on Monday a package for salvaging the sufferers of forced labor under Imperial Japan, which offered to pay compensatory money, instead of the Japanese employers at the time. Although South Korean Supreme Court has ordered Japanese companies to pay the compensation, the Japanese government insisted that all demands of the laborer had been solved. By offering the deal, Yoon Suk-yeol administration took the choice of diplomatic improvement. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida issued a comment about keeping words of former statements, including "remorse and apology." Both leaders are planning to meet in Tokyo and appeal to the world about the resilience of their ties.

 

The biggest arguing point between both governments was about whether the demands of former laborers were viable or not. According to the Agreement on the Settlement of Problems Concerning Property and Claims and on Economic Co-operation between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965, the problems concerning property, rights and interests were settled completely and finally with the compensatory payment by Japan. Japanese government has been requiring ROK government to compensate the former laborers with that payment, if needed.

 

However, there has been a different view on the side of ROK. In 2018, the Supreme Court of South Korea sentenced two Japanese companies to compensate for the former forced labor, based on the notion that the claims over inhumane and unlawful activities could not invalidated with the 1965 agreement. From Japan’s point of view, there appeared a contradiction that the claims were inter-governmentally settled and legally unsettled. Former administration led by President Moon Jae-in focused more on the legal aspect, not being active to solve the problem with Japanese counterparts.

 

After taking office last year, current President Yoon has been relatively positive in rebuilding the relations with Japan. In the summit meeting with Kishida in Cambodia last November, Yoon showed a supportive attitude toward Japan-led security initiative called Free and Open Indo-Pacific. Expecting to visit United States next month and to join Group 7 summit meeting in Tokyo in May, Yoon had to pave the way to stable security environment in East Asia, where Chinese advance and North Korean missile intimidation had been causing fundamental instability. The same can be said to the situation of Kishida, who is enthusiastic in building up Japan’s security capability and needs to improve the relationship with South Korea as the chairman of G7.

 

In the statement delivered by ROK Foreign Minister Park Jin, ROK government declared that it would pay compensation to the sufferers through Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization by Imperial Japan. It also hoped to make efforts for mutual interest and regional or world peace and prosperity with Japan, with which South Korea shared such universal values as liberal democracy, market economy, rule of law or human rights. It is likely that Seoul realized it was the time to make a deal when Russian invasion of Ukraine cast a shadow on world security and North Korea was escalating its provocative activities over missile and nuclear development.

 

Kishida had no reason to reject the offer. Immediately after the announcement of Seoul, he told the reporters that he would evaluate the proposal of Yoon administration as returning the bilateral relations to the normal. Kishida added a comment that he was succeeding the standpoint of former cabinets as a whole, a message that he was willing to succed Japan-South Korea Joint Declaration in 1998, which expressed Japan's deep remorse and sincere apology on the past colonial rule. That was what former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been refusing, inviting firm antipathy from South Korea.

 

Even though the offer has a certain potential of settling the long dispute between the two East Asian neighbors, there still is broad opposition to the deal in each nation. Yonhap News reported that legal representatives of victims and a civic group advocating them blasted the government plan as a scheme that effectively nullifies the South Korean Supreme Court's 2018 order. Some Japanese lawmakers close to Abe demanded, in a parliamentary discussion, Kishida not to reconfirm Japan's remorse and apology. Kishida simply reiterated that he was and would be succeeding former administrations' standpoints as a whole.

 

The bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea have been far from smooth from the time of Abe administration. After the decision of South Korean Supreme Court in 2018, Japan tightened regulation of exporting goods related to semi-conductor production, causing South Korea's dispute to World Trade Organization. Seoul also unilaterally notified Tokyo of the termination of an agreement on security information, called GSOMIA. Both governments are focusing on how they can fix those problems as soon as possible.