Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Korea, Japan diplomatic rows deepen
President Moon Jae-in, right, meets with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in a New York hotel on Oct. 25. / Korea Times file
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
Tension between South Korea and Japan escalated after rulings of South Korea's Supreme Court in favor of South Korean forced labor victims during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation, and no signs of improvement are in sight. Experts cite the need for the two sides to take proper measures to settle the disputes with new visions for bilateral relations.
South Korea has been voicing “strong regrets” over Japan's repeated claims that the South's Navy ship directed fire-control radar at Tokyo's patrol aircraft. But Japan has been stepping up criticism against the South, asking for stronger punishment of South Korean officials and an apology.
Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahisa Sato spoke on a Japanese television show Tuesday, saying “The South Korean government should apologize first and then investigate the case. If an appropriate measure is not taken first, it is impossible to prevent the incident from happening again.”
Japan has said a South Korean warship had targeted its Maritime Self-Defense Force P-1 patrol aircraft. Seoul rejected the claim, saying Seoul was engaged in a naval rescue operation to recover a North Korean ship near a sea border in the East Sea and it was Tokyo's misinterpretation.
While criticizing the South's maritime activity, Japan continues to criticize the South's court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate South Korean forced laborers. Seoul made it clear it respects the court rulings that have admitted the right to ask for compensation between individuals hadn't been settled despite a 1965 South-Japan treaty. Tokyo claims it is against the treaty as it stipulates Japan has paid off wartime debts through grants and loans.
Senior officials of the two countries' foreign ministries met on Dec. 24 to deal with the issues but failed to narrow their differences.
Critics say the Moon Jae-in government should take a lead in negotiations.
“The government should create momentum in the stalled negotiations with Japan in a move to restore the shuttle diplomacy between the two countries,” a source familiar with the matter told The Korea Times.
The nation's foreign ministry publicly said the two countries' shuttle diplomacy has been restored, but critics say it faces a deadlock due to Tokyo's offensive approach towards the South. Also, partially due to internal challenges inherited from the former administration, the foreign ministry has become incapable of dealing with the situation on its own as it is losing its ground in the decision-making process on the ongoing inter-Korean affairs, failing to win support from President Moon Jae-in's inner circle.
“The South's foreign ministry is struggling to step forward as it is being investigated over corruption charges under the former Park Geun-hye administration that is suspected of having used the forced labor and wartime sex slavery issues as bargaining chips in treaty negotiations with Japan,” Shin Beom-chul, a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told The Korea Times.
Shin said it is getting harder for the South to find breakthroughs under the Abe Shinzo's administration as Tokyo is trying to gain popularity with citizens of a new generation who have little knowledge of the country's wartime history.
“The South Korean government can run a stalling tactic in denuclearization talks so it can calm the rage and come up with new momentum in diplomacy,” Shin said.