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Yoon Jeong-suk (fourth from left), president of Green Korea, speaks during a joint South Korea-Japan press conference on the 75th anniversary of Korea’s liberation and Japan’s defeat in World War II in Seoul on Aug. 12. (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

Civic groups in South Korea and Japan launched an alliance aimed at resolving conflicts between the two sides and achieving true reconciliation and peace, with a “joint declaration for peace in East Asia” adopted as their first step. In the declaration, they called for solidarity and cooperation among members of the public on both sides, predicting that “concrete progress with the Korean Peninsula peace process can contribute to stopping Japan’s push to become a military power and to preserving the Peace Constitution.”

At 11:30 am on Aug. 12, the Korea-Japan Reconciliation and Peace Platform held a press conference in the Mugyo neighborhood of Seoul’s Jung (Central) District.

“We are certain that the division of the Korean Peninsula would not have happened had it not been for Japan’s colonial occupation,” the members said.

“By joining voices together on both sides, we plan to make preserving Article 9 [of the Peace Constitution] a key agenda for Korea-Japan peace in Japan, while actively participating with global civil society in the campaign that is being spearheaded in South Korea by the religious community and civil society to end the war and achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula,” they declared.

To improve souring relations between Pyongyang and Tokyo amid their scuffles over the issue of Japanese nationals being abducted to North Korea, they called on the Japanese government to “immediately restart negotiations with North Korea,” stating that they “recognize the issue of the Korean Peninsula peace process to be interlinked with the issue of North Korea-Japan relations.”

Commenting on one of the key issues in the conflict between South Korea and Japan -- a South Korean Supreme Court ruling ordering compensation for survivors of forced labor -- they insisted that “Japanese companies must squarely confront the historical facts and provide the compensation that has not been provided, and the Japanese government must not stand in the way of that.”

Ahead of that day’s press conference, South Korea and Japanese civic groups launched the South Korea-Japan Peace and Reconciliation Platform on July 2. The launch came after over a year of discussions prompted by an agreement in May 2019 on the “need for a framework to bring together commitment and action on both sides toward the greater goal of building a ‘shared home’” for the peaceful coexistence of East Asian citizens. Participants on the South Korean side include religious groups representing Protestantism, Buddhism, and Catholicism, along with major groups such as the Civil Society Organizations Network in Korea (CSONK), the Korea Alliance for Progressive Movement, and the Korea Federation for Environmental Movements. On the Japanese side, they include numerous groups involved in campaigning for peace, including General Mobilization to Oppose War and Protect Article 9, which has worked in Japan to preserve the Peace Constitution.

Lee Tae-ho, CSONK steering committee chair who participated in the press conference, said, “In addition to matters of history between our two countries, we will work together to consider how to preserve Japan’s Peace Constitution and to achieve progress in the Korean Peninsula peace process, as well as how to establish peace in East Asia and teach peace, reconciliation, and coexistence to future generations.”

With Japan facing an especially severe crisis with COVID-19, no separate press conference was held there. The joint declaration is scheduled to be published through the press on Aug. 15.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff writer

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]