Korea given diplomatic room to improve ties with Japan

Members of a civic group stage a protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, Tuesday, urging the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee to revise its map describing Dokdo as its territory. Yonhap

Experts don't expect Seoul-Tokyo ties to make progress overnight

By Kang Seung-woo

The latest Korean court ruling dismissing a damage suit against Japanese firms by victims of wartime forced labor is leaving more room for the Moon Jae-in administration to step up efforts to improve strained ties with Japan, according to diplomatic observers, Tuesday.

However, they remained skeptical that the ruling would bring about an immediate reconciliation between the two sides, as they have been locking horns with each other over historical and territorial issues for decades.

On Monday, the Seoul Central District Court said that the compensation lawsuit launched by 85 Korean victims and their families against 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel Sumitomo Metal, Nissan Chemical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was not sufficient to proceed with a hearing, which is tantamount to a ruling against the plaintiffs.

It was clearly a reversal of the October 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court, which ordered Japanese companies to compensate four Korean citizens who were forced to work for them before and during World War II. The decisions was a landmark ruling that led to Japan's retaliatory move of imposing export controls on three key materials critical for the semiconductor and display industries here, and thus resulted in relations between the neighboring countries slumping to their worst level in years.

In the wake of the dismissal on Monday, the foreign ministry here said that the government was respecting the court ruling, adding that the government will continue to consult with the Japanese side with an open stance on discussing a reasonable solution acceptable to both governments and all parties concerned.

"The court ruling is giving the Korean government some breathing room in exploring measures to resolve pending bilateral issues diplomatically," said Shin Beom-chul, director of the Center of Diplomacy and National Security at the Research Institute for Economy and Society.

Yang Ki-ho, a professor of Japanese studies at Sungkonghoe University, echoed Shin's view.

"Recent court rulings dismissing cases regarding Japan's wartime atrocities here are paving the way for the Korean government to step up efforts to mend fences with Tokyo diplomatically," Yang said.

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Amid the soured relations, President Moon has yet to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who took office in September 2020.

Since the inauguration of the Joe Biden administration in January, which stresses the importance of trilateral cooperation with Korea and Japan, the Moon administration has offered an olive branch, as highlighted by his remarks from the New Year press conference. At that time, Moon said that it would be "undesirable" for Korea-Japan ties if Japanese companies' assets here were ordered by the court to be sold to compensate the victims of forced labor, while also admitting that he felt "a bit perplexed" by another court ruling, also in January, which ordered the Japanese government to compensate former "comfort women," who were forced into sexual slavery for the pleasure of Japanese soldiers before and during World War II.

A family member and an attorney representing Korean victims of wartime forced labor by Japan speak during a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Court, Monday, after the court dismissed their damages suit against Japanese companies. Yonhap

As a result, there were speculations that the President's apparent shift in tone on Japan over the two countries' multiple disputes on historical issues may have affected the recent court rulings in favor of Japan. However, these speculations were denied by experts.

"Rather than the judiciary keeping pace with the government's foreign policy toward Japan, I believe that the recent rulings considered international law more than before," Shin said.

Despite the court rulings favoring the Japanese side, the pundits said the rulings would not convert automatically into an improvement in bilateral relations.

"I do not believe the court rulings will lead the Japanese government to immediately accept the Korean government's conciliatory gesture," Yang said.

Shin also said, "We cannot find any signs of reconciliation between the two countries despite the rulings. In addition, the unexpected issue about the Tokyo Olympic map describing Dokdo as Japan's territory could end up being another tinderbox between them."

The islets of Dokdo, rich in fish and gas hydrates, are Korea's easternmost islets and are controlled by Korea, but Japan claims sovereignty over them.

"It could happen that Biden arranges a trilateral summit with Korea and Japan, but a bilateral meeting between Moon and Suga is not likely," Shin added.

Moon is to attend the G7 Summit in Cornwall, the United Kingdom, later this week, and there has been speculation that Moon may sit down with Suga on the sidelines of the summit.

On Monday (U.S. time), U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that there are no plans for a three-way meeting, but it could be possible.

"I will tell you there's a possibility for virtually anything in these small spaces where you have just...in this case, 10 or 12 leaders in person there in Cornwall," Sullivan said.