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South Korean President Moon Jae-in responds to reporters’ questions during a New Year’s press conference at the Blue House on Jan. 14. (Blue House photo pool)

South Korean President Moon Jae-in addressed the issue of forced labor mobilization during the Japanese colonial occupation, which has been a source of friction between Seoul and Tokyo, at a New Year’s press conference on Jan. 14.

“If the Japanese government comes out with a plan that gives sufficient consideration to a ‘solution that is acceptable to the victims,’ then I don’t think it will be all that difficult to resolve things between our two countries,” he said.

He went on to note that was “not much time left” before the compulsory execution procedures that would see seized Japanese companies’ assets in South Korea being liquidated through a forced sale.

“I’d like to see dialogue between South Korea and Japan move more quickly,” he said.

Speaking about the forced labor mobilization issue in a press conference that day at the Blue House State Guest House, Moon noted that the South Korean government has “already suggested solutions several times.”

“The South Korean legislature had made efforts at the legislative level, the South Korean and Japanese attorneys representing the plaintiffs and members of South Korea and Japanese civil society have suggested solutions such as forming a joint consultative body,” he said.

“The South Korean government is willing to participate in such a consultative body,” he added.

Moon went on to stress, “I don’t see the solutions South Korea has proposed as being the ‘only’ solutions.”

“If Japan has ideas for revisions, it should present its ideas, and if we put our heads together and harness our wisdom with the ideas that South Korea has suggested and the ideas that Japan suggests, I think there’s plenty of room for a solution,” he said.

In particular, Moon stressed that a key part of a solution on the forced labor mobilization issue would be the “agreement of the victims.”

“Through our experience with the comfort women agreement, we became acutely aware that an agreement between the South Korean and Japanese governments is not helpful toward resolving an issue unless there is agreement from the victims,” he said.

He also said that it would “help to restore trust between the two sides if we could swiftly resolve the more easily resolved issues, such as Japan’s export controls and the South Korea-Japan General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).” He further stressed the need for Japan to lift its export controls and for South Korea to extend GSOMIA as steps toward resolving the forced labor mobilization issue, which is less amenable to a short-term resolution.

While he did not give a definite answer on whether he would be personally attending the Summer Olympics in Tokyo this July as president, Moon left the door open to the possibility, explaining that “senior-level representatives are expected to attend from South Korea.”

“The South Korean government plans to actively cooperate toward the success of the Tokyo Olympics,” he said.

“Hopefully, this will be a good opportunity to fundamentally resolve issues in South Korea-Japan relations,” he added.

He went on to say, “In terms of inter-Korean [relations], there’s been agreement to field some unified teams for the Tokyo Olympics, and it could be turned into an occasion for promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula through things like a joint march.”

Referring to South Korea-China relations, Moon said, “A South Korea visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to take place this year, and a trilateral South Korea-China-Japan summit will be taking place in South Korea.”

“I believe the South Korea visits by the two countries’ leaders will be an opportunity for a historic step forward in South Korea-China relations,” he predicted.

Stressing that 2022 will mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Seoul and Beijing, he said, “The leaders of both countries have agreed that we should take that opportunity to usher South Korea-China relations forward another level.”

He also predicted that it would “contribute momentum toward our efforts to find and work together on commonalities between the Belt and Road Initiative that China has been focusing on and the New Southern and New Northern Policies that South Korea has been emphasizing.”

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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