Korea-Japan relations achieve historic thaw, but problems remain [REWIND 2023]

Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida raise glasses of beer at a restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, after their bilateral summit on March 16. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The leaders of Korea and Japan worked to normalize bilateral relations frayed by ongoing historical disputes and a trade spat, enabling stronger trilateral security cooperation with the United States through the historic Camp David summit.

On March 16, Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a bilateral summit in Tokyo, where they agreed it is in both countries' national interests to mend ties, considering security matters such as North Korea. This marked the first bilateral visit by a Korean president to Tokyo in 12 years, reviving “shuttle diplomacy” between the two countries.

The summit came around after the Yoon government announced earlier in March its decision to pay compensation to victims of Japan's wartime forced labor through a Korea-backed public foundation without set contributions from Japanese companies. Issues related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea had long plagued bilateral relations.

In turn, the two countries formally normalized their General Security of Military Information Agreement, or Gsomia, a military intelligence-sharing pact almost terminated by Seoul in 2019 in response to Tokyo's trade curbs. Japan also lifted export restrictions imposed on Korea in the summer of 2019.

As a result of the thaw in Seoul-Tokyo relations, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted Yoon and Kishida in a historic trilateral summit at the Camp David retreat in Maryland on Aug. 18, where the leaders agreed to immediately consult each other in the event of threats to their collective interests and security.

The summit produced three agreements providing guidelines and a vision for strengthened trilateral relations: “Commitment to Consult,” “Spirit of Camp David” and “Camp David Principles.” In December, South Korea, the United States and Japan launched a system for the real-time sharing of missile warning data on North Korea.

In August, Japan began its controversial release of treated radioactive water from the ruined Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, sparking a fierce backlash from civic groups and environmentalists. A Korean group of experts inspected the Fukushima plant in May, following the Yoon-Kishida summit in Seoul earlier that month. The South Korean government said it would “respect” the results of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) review on the safety of Japan's plan to release the water, and the two countries said they would continue close consultations on the issue.

From left, Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida take a walk together after their trilateral summit at Camp David in Maryland on Aug. 18. [YONHAP]