Can Moon improve South Korea-Japan relations during his term?

Posted on : 2021-03-02 16:46 KST Modified on : 2021-03-02 16:46 KST
South Korean President reaffirms his commitment to South Korea-Japan relations in his March 1 address
President Moon Jae-in greets Lim Woo-chul, a former Korean independence fighter, during the March 1 Independence Movement Day ceremony at Tapgol Park in Seoul on March 1. (Yonhap News)
President Moon Jae-in greets Lim Woo-chul, a former Korean independence fighter, during the March 1 Independence Movement Day ceremony at Tapgol Park in Seoul on March 1. (Yonhap News)

During an address on March 1 at Tapgol Park in Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-in reiterated his determination to improve South Korea-Japan relations based on a “two-track” approach in which the two countries keep their historical disputes separate from other pressing issues.

Moon’s speech honored the March 1 Independence Movement, a 1919 movement calling for Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

But Moon’s speech didn’t offer the concrete solution that Japan has requested for key issues affecting the two countries, including South Korean court rulings that have ordered Japanese companies to compensate Koreans pressed into forced labor and the Japanese government to compensate the survivors of the “comfort women” system of military brothels during World War II.

Though newly inaugurated US President Joe Biden values his Northeast Asian allies more than his predecessor, it will likely take some time before South Korea and Japan can iron out the wrinkles in their relationship.

Compared to his previous March 1 speeches (in 2018, 2019, and 2020), Moon devoted a considerable portion of this year’s 25-minute speech to South Korea-Japan relations.

Moon emphasized solidarity, cooperation, and a spirit of inclusivity in his speech, remarking that “the purpose of the Declaration of Independence [a century ago] was not to reprimand and reject Japan.”

The president went on to mention “an unfortunate chapter in history.”

“The perpetrator might be able to forget, but the victim will never be able to,” Moon said, adding that “the Korean Government will always pursue wise solutions based on a victim-centered approach.”

Shifting gears, Moon said that “bilateral cooperation will not only benefit our two countries above all else but also facilitate stability and common prosperity in Northeast Asia and the trilateral Korea-United States-Japan partnership” and declared that “the Korean government is always ready to sit down and have talks with the Japanese government.”

Moon underscored the upcoming Olympic Games. “The Tokyo Summer Olympic Games scheduled for this year may serve as an opportunity for dialogue between [South] Korea and Japan, South and North Korea, North Korea and Japan, and North Korea and the United States. Korea will work together with Japan for the success of the Olympics.”

Moon’s March 1 address received considerable attention both in South Korea and abroad because it was his first speech since the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, who has emphasized improving South Korea-Japan relations and restoring trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan.

But rather than proposing any specific ways to improve relations with Japan, Moon reaffirmed the “two-track” approach by simultaneously affirming his commitment to cooperation (“efforts for Korea-Japan cooperation and forward-looking development will not stop”) and Korea’s basic position (“the Korean Government will always pursue wise solutions based on a victim-centered approach”). That appears to represent an attempt to convince the Biden administration that South Korea is willing to resolve the issue but is unable to do so because of Japan’s intransigence.

After Yoshihide Suga became prime minister of Japan in September 2020, the South Korean government said it was “prepared for communication and dialogue at any time with its good friends in the Japanese government.” During a personal visit to Japan that November, Park Jie-won, head of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, promised that Korea would proactively cooperate for the success of the “Tokyo Peace Olympics.”

But despite Seoul’s conciliatory attitude, Tokyo has held to a hard line, insisting that the Koreans must be the ones to create an opportunity for improving relations.

Since a South Korean court ruled on Jan. 8 that the Japanese government has to directly compensate the comfort women survivors, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi have adopted a chilly stance, refusing to meet with South Korea’s new ambassador Kang Chang-il or to speak on the phone with South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong.

Having verified Japan’s hardline position, Moon appears to have concluded that improving relations with Japan doesn’t justify abandoning South Korea’s “victim-centered” approach.

“We submitted [the draft of the speech] ten days ago. [The president] barely touched the other sections but had us revise the Japanese section several times. He put a whole lot of thought into it,” said an official from the Blue House.

Japan’s attitude remains frigid. When asked about Moon’s March 1 address during a daily press briefing on March 1, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said that the forced labor and comfort women issues had become a very serious problem for South Korea and Japan and that the Japanese government was waiting for a concrete proposal.

At the same time, Kato stressed that South Korea is an “important neighbor” and that it’s essential for the two countries to cooperate both bilaterally and trilaterally with the US on the North Korean issue.

The Japanese press reported that Moon’s March 1 address didn’t contain any new or concrete proposals.

For the current deadlock to be broken, there will probably need to be changes in the political situation that reduce uncertainty, such as definite progress on COVID-19 vaccination in the first half of the year or the Biden administration adopting a concrete North Korean policy.

If Moon is confident that the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to begin on July 22, could be a major catalyst for restarting the Korean Peninsula peace process, he might also pivot back to more proactive diplomacy with Japan.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)

Related stories