[ANALYSIS] Kishida's remarks on forced labor victims show his political limits

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Thu, November 30, 2023 | 00:43

Foreign Affairs

ANALYSISKishida's remarks on forced labor victims show his political limits

Posted : 2023-05-08 16:38

Updated : 2023-05-08 16:49

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife Yuko Kishida arrive at Seoul National Cemetery, Sunday. AP-Yonhap

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Sunday that he felt "strong pain" in his heart when he thought of the suffering of the Korean victims of forced labor during his country's 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

In carefully selected words, he expressed sympathy for the Koreans at a press conference in Seoul after his summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, acknowledging "the extreme difficulty and sorrow that many people had to suffer under the harsh environment in those days."

Kishida's remarks suggest both his determination to improve Korea-Japan relations and how far he was willing to go in that effort, given his political climate at home, according to experts, Monday.

"In his famous 2015 address [marking 70 years since Japan's defeat in World War II], former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his administration would not let their future generations 'be predestined to apologize' ― a position from which Kishida is not free. This is why Kishida said he would carry forward the positions on colonial-era history of Japan's previous cabinets during Yoon's visit to Japan in March," Shin Kak-soo, former vice foreign minister and former Korean ambassador to Japan, told The Korea Times. "In that sense, his comment this time is a step forward."

A crowd welcomes visiting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in front of the presidential office in Seoul, Sunday. AP-Yonhap

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The former ambassador said that Kishida ― under pressure from both Korea and the conservative wing of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, which rejects any form of concession ― appeared to have expressed his stance by sophisticatedly using restrained terms.

"From what I heard, Japan's foreign ministry opposed the idea [of expressing his sympathy]. That means Kishida made his own political decision," he added.

Jin Chang-soo, an expert on Japan at the Sejong Institute, a think tank, agreed.

"There is a wide political consensus in Japan that it should stop apologizing to Koreans over historical issues," Jin said. "Given the situation, I think Kishida's remarks, though insufficient, helped make progress in rapprochement."

Relations between the two countries deteriorated in the past few years over renewed historical disputes following South Korean court rulings on the victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery and forced labor. The Yoon administration's efforts in the past year to repair the relationship over such issues have faced strong criticism at home, with many claiming he gave too much in return for too little.

Protesters with images of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stage a rally to oppose a visit by the latter in front of the presidential office in Seoul, Sunday. AP-Yonhap

Cho Sung-ryul, a scholar at the University of North Korean Studies and former consul general to Osaka, is among the experts who share the sentiment. Kishida's remarks, which were not included in his official statement, were far from an apology, he said.

"It reminds me of what former Japanese Emperor Akihito said during a meeting with former President Roh Tae-woo. Their sympathy and regret do not say Japan was responsible for it," Cho said. "Kishida's remarks did not even state that the people who had suffered were the Korean victims. This wasn't the apology many Koreans had hoped for."

During Sunday's summit, Yoon and Kishida agreed to allow a group of inspectors from Korea to visit the now-defunct Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant later this month ahead of the planned release of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, as many Koreans remain concerned about its downstream environmental effects.

Experts contacted by The Korea Times generally welcomed the move from Tokyo, which has so far excluded Seoul from the issue. But Cho remains cautious, saying without elaborating that it is difficult to know what the agreement really entails.

"In 2018, North Korea invited foreign journalists to show them the dismantled nuclear test site, basically allowing them to take photos only," he said. "We need further discussions over what the inspection means. Who would be members of the inspection team and what would they be allowed to do there? Those questions matter."

mj6c2@koreatimes.co.kr