Ball in Japan's court after Korea's gesture on forced labor issue

Politics

Published: 12 Mar. 2023, 17:57 Updated: 12 Mar. 2023, 18:50

Ball in Japan's court after Korea's gesture on forced labor issue

Screen shots from a short-form video uploaded to YouTube by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office on Sunday stress Yoon’s “resolve” to normalize bilateral ties between Seoul and Tokyo ahead of his visit to Japan this week. [YONHAP]

As President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Tokyo nears, the heat is on Japan to reciprocate following Korea's gesture on the forced labor issue.

Yoon’s office on Sunday stressed that its recent decision to compensate Korean victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor through a Seoul-backed public foundation was a show of “resolve” to normalize ties.

In a YouTube short-form video, the president's office said it was high time that Seoul and Tokyo “revitalize” relations on security, the economy and cultural exchanges, saying Yoon accepts “full responsibility” for his policy decisions.

In the video, a plaque that read “The BUCK STOPS here” was shown placed atop Yoon’s desk. It was gifted by U.S. President Joe Biden during his May 2022 visit to Korea.

Korean Ambassador to Japan Yun Duk-min put Seoul’s requests more clearly in an interview published Sunday by the Asahi Shimbun, when he was quoted as saying that in order for both countries to resolve the forced labor issue, Tokyo had to make sincere efforts to understand the victim’s standpoint and take follow-up measures.

“There’s a saying in Korean that if someone is getting soaked in rain, I’d rather be someone who gets soaked along with that person, than one who shares an umbrella,” Yun reportedly told the Japanese newspaper. “Japan may think that the [forced labor] issue has been legally settled, but the victims don’t share the same thought.”

The diplomat urged Japanese companies to contribute to the foundation, mentioning that the Korean public was finding it hard to understand why Korea was paying for something Japan did wrong.

On the planned summit between Yoon and his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, on Thursday and Friday, Yun expressed hope for increased bilateral exchanges, saying there was “a lot to do” amid the rapidly changing international environment.

Kishida should come to Korea “whenever necessary,” Yun suggested.

Yoon’s visit to Tokyo was announced last Thursday by Yoon’s office, days after Korea's Foreign Ministry announced that it would compensate victims of Japan’s wartime forced labor through a public foundation established by the Korean government and voluntarily funded by private companies.

Missing from the plan were any contributions from Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, two companies among Japanese businesses that relied on Korean forced labor during World War II, who were ordered by Korea’s Supreme Court to compensate the victims.

The Foreign Ministry said it hoped Japanese companies would chip in, but neither company has so far indicated any intentions to do so.

Yoon’s visit to Japan, which comes at the invitation of Tokyo, will mark the first time that a Korean president has visited Japan in over a decade.

Former conservative President Lee Myung-bak visited Japan in December 2011. The last Japanese prime minister to visit Korea was Yoshihiko Noda in October 2011.

While Yoon’s office said that the summit’s agenda was being coordinated between the two countries, at least two main subjects that will receive the most media attention here are whether Japan lifts its export restrictions on Korea and the normalization of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (Gsomia). Both issues were a part of tit-for-tat responses between the two countries following Korea’s Supreme Court rulings.

Last week's announcement from Korea to establish a public foundation immediately drew an intense response from forced labor victims and local activists, who called the decision “insulting.”

In a rally hosted by a civic group on Saturday at Seoul Plaza in downtown Seoul, Democratic Party (DP) Chairman Lee Jae-myung slammed the Yoon administration for what he called a “shameful” idea, saying Tokyo has so barely made any concessions.

“Is there a single thing that Japan conceded other than inviting the president and his wife?” Lee rhetorically asked during the rally.

“Korea became a sucker to Japan.”

In stark contrast, the foundation has been effusively welcomed by Washington, which has long urged the neighboring countries to get along as it faces growing threats in the Northeast Asian region. The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea last week indicated plans to donate to the foundation.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]