{"id":2197484,"date":"2022-07-14T20:23:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T11:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/pro\/?p=2197484"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:12:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:12:09","slug":"yoons-rapprochement-with-japan-could-soon-be-over-before-it-even-started","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/07\/yoons-rapprochement-with-japan-could-soon-be-over-before-it-even-started\/","title":{"rendered":"Yoon’s rapprochement with Japan could soon be over before it even started"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yoon Suk-yeol <\/span>wants to improve<\/span><\/a> relations between South Korea and Japan after they collapsed under the previous administration, but an upcoming court ruling threatens to derail his initiatives before they even get started.<\/span><\/p>\n

The case dates back to Japan\u2019s colonial rule of the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, which has poisoned relations with South Korea ever since. During World War II, Japanese companies forced Koreans to work in their factories, and now these former exploited laborers and their descendents are demanding compensation.<\/span><\/p>\n

From Tokyo\u2019s point of view, it settled all issues concerning allegations of forced labor when it established diplomatic relations with South Korea in 1965 in the <\/span>\u201cTreaty on Basic Relations,\u201d<\/span><\/a> while also signing the <\/span>\u201cAgreement on the settlement of problems concerning property and claims and on economic cooperation.\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

However, in 2018, South Korea\u2019s Supreme Court <\/span>ruled<\/span><\/a> that the agreement does not prevent individuals from seeking compensation. This means the Japanese companies\u2019 refusal to compensate the victims puts their assets in South Korea at risk of being liquidated.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast forward to today, and the Supreme Court is expected to make its final decision in <\/span>August or September<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The stakes are high. Japan regards this case as a test of whether South Korea can abide by previous agreements, or whether it\u2019s pointless dealing with Seoul because it thinks it will inevitably break its promises.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Japanese foreign ministry official <\/span>recently put it<\/span><\/a>: \u201cOnce the assets are liquidated, there\u2019s no going back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Image: Office of the 20th President<\/a> (July 8, 2022)<\/p><\/div>\n

YOON\u2019S GAMEPLAN<\/b><\/p>\n

The Yoon administration launched a <\/span>public-private consultative group<\/span><\/a> earlier this month in order to reach a resolution that is acceptable to both the former forced laborers and the Japanese government. But this initiative is already on shaky ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

There was good reason for creating the group. In 2015, South Korea\u2019s last conservative government \u201cresolved\u201d the comfort women issue \u2014 a euphemism for Korean women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II \u2014 <\/span>\u201dfinally and irreversibly.\u201d<\/span><\/a> This included a 1 billion yen fund from Tokyo for the victims.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, this deal wasn\u2019t as final and irreversible as the two sides intended. The agreement, critics contended, didn\u2019t reflect the <\/span>views of the surviving victims<\/span><\/a>, and the Japanese government later made statements that <\/span>suggested<\/span><\/a> that Tokyo wasn\u2019t sincerely apologizing but just trying to stop South Korea from raising what is to them an embarrassing issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

The South Korean and Japanese governments were also <\/span>criticized<\/span><\/a> for the deal domestically by many that still harbor suspicions about the other country.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, nobody knows the potential risks of these kinds of negotiations than Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who served as foreign minister at the time of the 2015 comfort women agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

A successful result from the consultative group should prevent this from happening again, since it would be much harder to accuse the South Korean government of pandering to Japan if the victims themselves were on its side.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

The U.S. wants to bring its two allies, South Korea and Japan, toge<\/span>ther | <\/span>Image: Office of the 20th President (July 3, 2022)<\/p><\/div>\n

However, the first meeting of Yoon\u2019s consultative group didn’t go smoothly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Representatives of the victims <\/span>demanded direct negotiations<\/span><\/a> with the offending Japanese companies. They previously <\/span>rejected<\/span><\/a> the idea of a subrogation payment, in which the South Korean government would initially foot the bill, suggesting that this is at least just as much about making the Japanese companies take responsibility as the compensation itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, legal representative Lim Jae-sung reiterated in a <\/span>column<\/span><\/a> for the left-leaning <\/span>Hankyoreh<\/span><\/i> that any arrangement Seoul makes must take into account the former forced laborers, and that they demand an apology from the Japanese companies. He concludes by saying that he hopes the victims aren\u2019t harassed into just taking a quick paycheck before they pass away without an apology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, as of Thursday afternoon KST, two of the victims <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> that they were boycotting the consultative group. The two women emphasized that they want the Japanese side to apologize and compensate them, adding that they refuse subrogation payment.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the victims keep rejecting the group\u2019s initiatives, the Yoon administration risks coming across as more eager to reconcile with Tokyo than holding Japan accountable for its past wrongdoings.<\/span><\/p>\n

EVERYBODY LOSES<\/b><\/p>\n

If a settlement isn\u2019t reached, South Korean public opinion will turn further against Japan, since Koreans will once again see it as proof that Tokyo is unwilling to sincerely reflect on the pain it inflicted during the colonial era.<\/span><\/p>\n

This will make it more difficult for Yoon to achieve his goal of improving bilateral relations. Washington\u2019s role as a mediator will become more important \u2014 while Yoon and Kishida met at the <\/span>NATO Summit<\/span><\/a> in June, it seems U.S. President Joe Biden was needed to ease the concerns of opposition in South Korea and Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kishida may have more wriggle room following his Liberal Democratic Party\u2019s recent victory in the <\/span>upper house elections<\/span><\/a>, but even then he may not want to play nice after what he would see as South Korea breaking another agreement. On the contrary, he might face domestic pressure to retaliate in some way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yoon\u2019s political leeway is even more limited, with his approval rating <\/span>plummeting to rock bottom<\/span><\/a> in the first week of July.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the bad news surrounding round two of the consultative group, there\u2019s always a chance Seoul\u2019s Park Jin might be able to salvage something when he <\/span>visits Japan next week<\/span><\/a>. This should feature a meeting with his Japanese counterpart and Kishida<\/span>, in what would be the first such visit from a South Korean foreign minister since Nov. 2019. <\/span>But the clock is ticking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Edited by Bryan Betts<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Inter-Korean & Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yoon Suk-yeol wants to improve relations between South Korea and Japan after they collapsed under the previous administration, but an upcoming court ruling threatens to derail his initiatives before they even get started. The case dates back to Japan\u2019s colonial rule of the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, which has poisoned relations with South Korea […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3665,"featured_media":2197489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[28],"yoast_head":"\nYoon's rapprochement with Japan could soon be over before it even started - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/07\/yoons-rapprochement-with-japan-could-soon-be-over-before-it-even-started\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yoon's rapprochement with Japan could soon be over before it even started - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yoon Suk-yeol wants to improve relations between South Korea and Japan after they collapsed under the previous administration, but an upcoming court ruling threatens to derail his initiatives before they even get started. 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