FOLLOWING THE inaugurations of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in recent months, the two countries have made attempts at practicing close diplomacy. The attendance of Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa at President Yoon’s inauguration ceremony, the deployment of the Korea-Japan Policy Consultative Group to Tokyo, and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin’s visit to Japan are several events that point to prospects of untying the gordian knot of sour past interactions between South Korea and Japan. However, deep-rooted historical disputes between South Korea and Japan and a lack of bilateral talks appear to be insurmountable problems impeding both countries from fully recognizing each other as global allies. Nevertheless, both Korea and Japan’s current leaders hold different stances from their predecessors as they are taking steps to alleviate the acrimony behind Korea-Japan relations. Moreover, domestic and global security changes are prompting South Korea and Japan to maintain a cooperative attitude when it comes to resolving problems that seem “unresolvable.”

A complicated, antagonistic past

   The continuous political and economic dissention between South Korea and Japan can be traced 100 years back to Japan’s annexation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. The crux of the conflict between the countries after liberation is Korea’s request for Japan to compensate for the atrocities committed during the colonization period, mainly concerning the issues of comfort women and forced labor. The term “comfort women” refers to women who were coerced into working in Japanese wartime military brothers. Meanwhile, the issue of forced labor refers to Japanese companies such as Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries using false advertisements to unjustly force Korean people into labor.

   Though Japan’s annexation of Korea came to an end in 1945, Korea-Japan relations were not normalized until the 1965 treaty. The 1965 agreement settled issues concerning property claims and economic cooperation between South Korea and Japan. Despite the treaty, however, Korea-Japan relations have been contentious ever since because the Korean public believes that the issues regarding Japan’s colonization have not been completely reconciled and that the victims’ individual rights to request compensation have been stripped[1]. In an attempt to resolve the residual tension between Korea and Japan, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung met with Japanese Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo in what is now known as the 1998 Joint Declaration. In the declaration, the two leaders announced that both countries would reinforce a new partnership between Korea and Japan. Both leaders stated that they looked forward to the 21st century by attempting “to build solid, good-neighborly, and friendly relations…[to] squarely face the past and develop relations based on mutual understanding and trust[1].”

   Despite the declaration and other informal apologies by Japanese officials, Japan and South Korea were embroiled in legal conflicts concerning the issues of forced labor and comfort women for decades. This included cases such as the 1965 Claims Agreement and the Korean government’s 1997 case against the Nippon Steel Corp. In both instances, the Korean government sought historical justice and reparations for victims of crimes during annexation while Japan believed that it had already compensated the victims.

   It was not until 2015 that Japan finally paid $9.5 million in reparations for victims of forced labor and sexual slavery. However, according to activists, as the decision and process to settle the dispute with Japan was not conferred beforehand with the victims, the deal was repudiated[2]. This instance shows how South Korea’s stance was for reparations to be settled with the victim directly so that they themselves could receive compensation and a formal apology instead of the Japanese government just paying the South Korean government. However, there was never a settlement akin to this and the court cases become even more complicated and hostile. Exasperated by the continual overturning of past court decisions, in August of 2019, Japan dismissed Korea from its whitelist of trade partners and placed export controls on the essential electronics sector[2]. Korea responded by removing Japan from its trade whitelist and declaring that it would halt the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSMIA) between the countries, further displeasing Japan[2]. As of now, there are no feasible diplomatic solutions being taken to resolve the historical disputes[3]. 

Domestic significance and political implications

   Despite the long history of fraught relations between Japan and Korea, the current leaders of both nations have taken steps to ameliorate Korea-Japan relations. The establishment of a public-private consultative body to handle the forced labor issue and other historical, diplomatic, and political complications—both international and domestic—raise the prospects of a more affable Korea-Japan relationship. Moreover, both Yoon and Kishida share the opinion that the improvement of Korea-Japan relations is not only essential for national interests, but also for diplomatic and international interests. 

   Prime Minister Kishida’s past actions show his dedication to ameliorating Korea-Japan relations. For example, when Kishida was the Japanese Foreign Minister in 2015, he led a rapprochement to resolve the comfort women issue, even though it ended in failure[4]. Moreover, during a meeting with Korean National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chung Jin-suk in April of 2022, Prime Minister Kishida asserted that there is “no time to spare in improving Japan-South Korea relations[5],” which is a testament to how Kishida is in the same boat as Yoon regarding improving the Korea-Japan relationship. Key officials in the Kishida administration also vigorously advocate for an improved Korea-Japan relationship as sought by Yoon[9].There is also hope that Kishida will be more cooperative that his predecessor in settling historical disputes, as Kishida was the Japanese Foreign Minister when the government decided to establish a fund for comfort women in December of 2015, which points to his willingness to find a solution that would be satisfactory to Korea[5].

   Similarly, Yoon has signaled his commitment to improving Korea-Japan relations since his presidential election campaign. More recently, in his Liberation Day speech on August 15, President Yoon wished to “swiftly improve relations with Japan based on a 1998 joint declaration[3].” Yoon asserted that he would recognize Japan as a partner to “face common threats that challenge the freedom of global citizens,” proclaiming that the time to fight Japan was over and that it was now time for cooperation[3]. Yoon’s Liberation Day speech delivered on his campaign remarks to restore fraught relations under the former Moon Jae-in administration. Moreover, his plans to iron out historical disputes come alongside the South Korean Supreme Court’s upcoming plan to deliver a verdict on its decision to disband Japanese businesses’ assets to indemnify Korean wartime victims of Japanese forced labor[3]. President Yoon further called to “[uphold] the spirit of the Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Declaration” and use it as a blueprint for Korea-Japan relationships, concretizing his campaign promises of improving ties with Japan[3]. 

   Though major steps have been taken to improve relations between Japan and Korea, there are still challenges to creating a solution that will bring about veritable, substantial change. First and foremost, both Yoon and Kishida will have to face continued domestic opposition—opposition from hardline opposition party members that has continued from the previous administrations. In Japan’s case, hardline members in the Liberal Democratic Party continue to reject suggestions to improve the relationship between the two countries. The hardline members are resentful of South Korea continuing to dispute previously “settled” deals and court cases and refuse to take a cooperative stance[4]. President Yoon’s domestic difficulties entail implementing policies in spite of the severely partisan rift in Korean politics. Moreover, Yoon’s inexperience in politics casts more doubt about whether he possesses the acumen to establish legislative partnerships and settle opposition from the hardline members in the National Assembly[6]. The means President Yoon takes to maneuver and forge alliances across the board will determine whether his diplomatic policies will prove to be a success. 

   Another challenge President Yoon faces is that politically interfering in the court system is a “lightning rod” that should be treated with extreme caution, especially as it led to the downfall of the former Park Geun-hye government. The same end could be expected for President Yoon, given the perilousness with intermeddling with the judiciary[6]. It is important for Yoon to find the right balance to minimize, or even circumvent, political costs by avoiding extreme actions when trying to resolve historical disputes. For example, domestic conservatives have been avid supporters of anti-feminist policies and are sensitive about how the comfort women issue should be dealt with. Japan too has been against erecting comfort women statues in Korea, and if hardliners in Japan continue to oppose the statues while Yoon attempts to find a balance with them, taking down the statues would be perceived as giving in to Japan and could provoke domestic conservatives in Korea[6]. All in all, for both Yoon and Kishida, the way the still-unsettled lawsuits on the issues of comfort women and forced labor are handled will determine whether they are successful in gaining domestic support, which is the key to sustaining a good long-term relationship between the two countries. Hopefully, the resumption of Korea-Japan human exchanges concurrent to the gradual settling of the COVID-19 pandemic will establish positive grounds for cooperation.

International security concerns could lead to improved South Korea-Japan relations

   Recent changes in regional and global politics have forced Japan and Korea to put aside their fraught relationship and cooperate for the greater good. The United States in particular has created alliances that bring Japan and Korea into the fold, requiring both countries to unite. Threats to international peace, security, and prosperity such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the aggravation of the United States-China relationship, and North Korean nuclear provocations are prompting the United States to be an active player in improving Korea-Japan relations. This is because the improvement of the relationship between the two countries could be the key to tactfully coping with the problems that the international community is currently facing and bringing about future security.

   The Korea-United States-Japan leaders’ convention at the June 29 NATO summit, U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to South Korea and Japan from May 20 to 24, the initiation of Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), and the second Quad summit between India, Australia, Japan, and the United States are all signs of a potential trilateral cooperation that could usher a “global comprehensive strategic alliance[7].” All of these examples are steps the United States has taken to speed up the establishment of a security network to maintain the status quo and come up with a solution that may work against future international threats too. 

   Furthermore, recent security concerns in Asia provide avenues for improved relations between South Korea, Japan, and the United States. Increasing global concerns regarding economic growth, regional security, preventing climate change, and ways to establish international growth and order have encouraged Japan to establish strong ties with the United States. Former Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and President Biden’s joint talks on handling the COVID-19 crisis and bolstering global security reveal how not just South Korea, but Japan as well is willing to hold hands with the United States for the purpose of increasing global security. To add on, the United States and Japan are on the same page in terms of regional security concerns as both perceive the rise of authoritarian China as a military and economic threat that might dynamically affect the status quo by simulating the Russian invasion of Ukraine to threaten Taiwan. In addition, Japan is becoming increasingly antagonistic towards China due to the Senkaku Islands issue[8]. Japan therefore needs to remain cooperative even for its own sake, as improved international security would lead to improved domestic and regional security.

   The United States, however, has to be careful with how it handles its alliances with South Korea and Japan. The Biden Administration’s primary diplomatic objective is to bolster U.S. alliances by straying away from measures that appear to favor one side and not arbitrarily intervening without a just reason. Nonetheless, historically, the United States has inconspicuously—and at times, overtly—exercised substantial influence over the South Korea-Japan relationship. The concern remains: if the United State extensively pushes both countries to cooperate despite their unsettled disputes, there would be repercussions from both countries and condemnation that the United States was impudently intervening in the sensitive political issues of two sovereign nations. Therefore, maintaining an unbiased and noninterventionist stance is essential to the United States as a successful South Korea-Japan relationship could be the gateway to morphing “the diplomatic map of East Asia and mark[ing] a new chapter for bilateral relations between Tokyo and Seoul[8].”

*                 *                 *

   With the leadership changes in both South Korea and Japan, the prospects for an improved relationship are bright. At a time of increased international threats, the time has come for both Korea and Japan to alleviate tensions for the establishment of international peace and security, as improved Korea-Japan relations are essential for establishing a joint cooperation to settle regional security concerns. The road taken to respond to post-war Korea-Japan relations will determine whether there is an effective measure to check the incumbent threats the world is facing.

[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

[2] BBC

[3] United States Institute of Peace

[4] The Korea Times

[5] The Asahi Shimbun

[6]The Hankyoreh

[7] Ministry News

[8] The Economist