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| Members of a coalition of victims of forced labor during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of Korea hold a press conference in front of the former Japanese Embassy in central Seoul, Oct. 30, calling for the government to honor victims' property claims against Japan from funding it received through the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
A year after the South Korean Supreme Court ruled Japanese companies had to compensate surviving South Koreans who were forced to work for them before and during World War II, ties between Seoul and Tokyo are in a stalemate.
There have been several recent attempts at making a breakthrough, but none have borne fruit so far. The neighboring countries have continued retaliatory tit-for-tat measures for the past year.
Following the ruling, Japan imposed restrictions on three resource materials for semiconductors and flat screens being exported to South Korean companies, and then removed Seoul from its whitelist of preferred trading partners. In response the government here removed Japan from its whitelist and later decided to end intelligence sharing with Tokyo by not renewing the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).
The two countries have always had tense relations over their historical past, but now it has expanded into the trade and security sectors.
President Moon Jae-in, who will host the South Korea-ASEAN Summit in Busan next month, and who also faces an array of domestic problems including in his peace initiative with North Korea, faces the need to improve ties.
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon delivered a personal message from President Moon to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his recent attendance of the coronation of the new Japanese emperor. But Abe reiterated Tokyo's stance, telling Lee that South Korea should respect the 1965 normalization treaty, which he believes addressed all outstanding issues.
To resolve the court ruling issue, President Moon recently suggested a compromise in which Japanese and Korean firms plus a third party ― possibly the South Korean government ― create a fund to compensate the South Korean victims of forced labor.
However, the Japanese government said that it opposes any deal mandating Japanese firms pay compensation, as this goes against the 1965 treaty.
Political analysts say that the meeting between Lee and Abe was "somewhat" meaningful in terms of providing a fresh impetus for more high-level meetings. But the two countries have far to go if they will not make any concessions.
Bong Young-shik, a research fellow at Yonsei Institute for North Korean Studies, said the two countries could reach an agreement by making some concessions.
"The South Korean government should send a clear message to the Abe government that it will discuss the issues surrounding individuals' property claims against Japan," Bong said.
The South Korean government of the time received funds from Japan as reparations to pay compensation to the victims of forced labor during its 1910-45 occupation of Korea. However, the money was used to fund the country's economic development projects instead of being distributed to the individual victims.
Citing the importance of security cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo to counter possible threats from North Korea and support Washington-led Indo-Pacific Strategy, the U.S. is stepping up pressure on its two key Asian allies to extend the GSOMIA with government officials sending such a message through diplomatic channels.
David Stilwell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs will visit Seoul, Nov. 5, following a visit to Tokyo from Oct. 25 to 27. In press conferences there, Stilwell said he would ask the South Korean government to review its decision to end the GSOMIA in his upcoming visit to the country.
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley is also planning to visit South Korea and Japan in mid-November, to meet his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Gen. Park Han-ki and Gen. Koji Yamazaki, respectively. The three held a trilateral meeting in Washington, Oct. 1, a day after Milley's appointment to the position.
The GSOMIA conflict started last August when the government announced that it had decided not to renew it in response to Japan removing South Korea from its list of countries receiving preferential trade treatment citing "security reasons."
