No sign of thaw in icy Korea-Japan ties
By Kang Seung-woo
Diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan are not expected to improve after the latter's new leader, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, showed signs of following in the footsteps of his predecessor Shinzo Abe over historical issues.
This has dashed any brief hopes for progress in bilateral ties that arose after Prime Minister Suga, in his first conversation with President Moon Jae-in last month, said the two leaders should not allow bilateral ties between the neighboring countries to remain frozen.
In less than a month, his earlier remarks are already ringing hollow to Korea as Suga is seemingly maintaining the same stance as Abe over the historical issues that have led relations between Seoul and Tokyo to deteriorate.
His following in the footsteps of Abe is evidenced by the Japanese government's refusal to attend an annual trilateral meeting of China, Japan and Korea, which was scheduled to take place here later this year.
According to multiple Japanese media reports, Tokyo has given notice to Seoul that Suga will not attend unless the Korean government takes proper measures to resolve their opposing stances on a ruling by Korea's top court on compensation for Koreans subject to forced wartime labor under Japan's colonial rule of the peninsula.
Currently, the procedure to liquidate the Korean assets of Nippon Steel, which benefited from the use of forced labor before and during WWII, is underway based on the Supreme Court's order in October 2018 for it to pay 100 million won ($87,000) in compensation to each of four surviving Korean victims of forced labor practices. In response, the company has filed an appeal against the seizure of its assets.
With no sign of a thaw in the icy bilateral ties, Cheong Wa Dae sent a message to Suga on his inauguration to express hopes for promoting friendly ties, and indicate the Korean government would take advantage of the three-way summit to improve relations.
In response to the media report, the presidential office urged Japan, Wednesday, to meet with Korean representatives and sort out the pending bilateral issue.
"The government's opposition on whether to meet or not should not be a precondition for a resolution to the issue. If there is an issue between the two countries, they need to meet and address it," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said.
He added that the government was in negotiations with the relevant countries to hold the annual summit.
Rep. Lee Nak-yon, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, expressed his frustration over the report.
"Japan is one of the world's leading nations. But one has to ask if the attitude of Prime Minister Suga befits that of a leading nation," Lee said.
"Although it is not certain when the liquidation of the Japanese company's Korean assets might begin, the Suga administration has already said it will not attend a trilateral summit, meaning that it is taking advantage of a pending issue with Korea for political purposes, or the stabilization of his administration," said Jin Chang-soo, the director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the Sejong Institute.
"The Japanese people's distrust of Korea is by far higher than we think and they think Korea does not benefit its interests politically."
Along with the forced labor issue, the Japanese government is lobbying for the removal of a "comfort women" statue erected in Berlin's Mitte District last month by Korea Verband, a Berlin-based civic group with Korean ties. The statue built in Korea and erected in several other countries including the United States symbolizes victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.
Sexual slavery is another contentious issue between the two countries. A compensation deal was signed between the two countries in 2015 under the former Park Geun-hye administration, but the Korean victims denounced the deal for not reflecting their opinion and lacking any sincere apology from the Japanese government.
On Oct. 2, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi demanded that the statue be removed during talks with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, according to Japanese media.
The district office initially planned to remove the statue but has withheld the decision following protests from activists and the public.
The Korean foreign ministry initially maintained its stance that the installation of the statue was a voluntary move by the private sector, so it was not desirable for the government to get diplomatically involved, but it has shifted to mulling all available countermeasures against Japan's lobbying.
By Kang Seung-woo
Diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan are not expected to improve after the latter's new leader, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, showed signs of following in the footsteps of his predecessor Shinzo Abe over historical issues.
This has dashed any brief hopes for progress in bilateral ties that arose after Prime Minister Suga, in his first conversation with President Moon Jae-in last month, said the two leaders should not allow bilateral ties between the neighboring countries to remain frozen.
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| Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga / Yonhap |
His following in the footsteps of Abe is evidenced by the Japanese government's refusal to attend an annual trilateral meeting of China, Japan and Korea, which was scheduled to take place here later this year.
According to multiple Japanese media reports, Tokyo has given notice to Seoul that Suga will not attend unless the Korean government takes proper measures to resolve their opposing stances on a ruling by Korea's top court on compensation for Koreans subject to forced wartime labor under Japan's colonial rule of the peninsula.
Currently, the procedure to liquidate the Korean assets of Nippon Steel, which benefited from the use of forced labor before and during WWII, is underway based on the Supreme Court's order in October 2018 for it to pay 100 million won ($87,000) in compensation to each of four surviving Korean victims of forced labor practices. In response, the company has filed an appeal against the seizure of its assets.
With no sign of a thaw in the icy bilateral ties, Cheong Wa Dae sent a message to Suga on his inauguration to express hopes for promoting friendly ties, and indicate the Korean government would take advantage of the three-way summit to improve relations.
In response to the media report, the presidential office urged Japan, Wednesday, to meet with Korean representatives and sort out the pending bilateral issue.
"The government's opposition on whether to meet or not should not be a precondition for a resolution to the issue. If there is an issue between the two countries, they need to meet and address it," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said.
He added that the government was in negotiations with the relevant countries to hold the annual summit.
Rep. Lee Nak-yon, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, expressed his frustration over the report.
"Japan is one of the world's leading nations. But one has to ask if the attitude of Prime Minister Suga befits that of a leading nation," Lee said.
"Although it is not certain when the liquidation of the Japanese company's Korean assets might begin, the Suga administration has already said it will not attend a trilateral summit, meaning that it is taking advantage of a pending issue with Korea for political purposes, or the stabilization of his administration," said Jin Chang-soo, the director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the Sejong Institute.
"The Japanese people's distrust of Korea is by far higher than we think and they think Korea does not benefit its interests politically."
Along with the forced labor issue, the Japanese government is lobbying for the removal of a "comfort women" statue erected in Berlin's Mitte District last month by Korea Verband, a Berlin-based civic group with Korean ties. The statue built in Korea and erected in several other countries including the United States symbolizes victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.
Sexual slavery is another contentious issue between the two countries. A compensation deal was signed between the two countries in 2015 under the former Park Geun-hye administration, but the Korean victims denounced the deal for not reflecting their opinion and lacking any sincere apology from the Japanese government.
On Oct. 2, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi demanded that the statue be removed during talks with his German counterpart Heiko Maas, according to Japanese media.
The district office initially planned to remove the statue but has withheld the decision following protests from activists and the public.
The Korean foreign ministry initially maintained its stance that the installation of the statue was a voluntary move by the private sector, so it was not desirable for the government to get diplomatically involved, but it has shifted to mulling all available countermeasures against Japan's lobbying.
