Protests over Japanese war atrocities during the last century threaten thaw in Japan-Korea ties

Protests also greeted Yoon after he returned home.
The issue of Koreans being forced to work for Japanese companies during World War II and sending large numbers of women to brothels to service Japanese soldiers as ‘comfort women’, continue to rankle bilateral relations.

Japan paid compensation on the labour issue to the South Korean government. But it has not apologised for forcing Korean women into the brothel during the war.

This attitude of Japan has stood in the way of normalising bilateral relations and a large number of people in Seoul and Tokyo are aghast that Japanese governments have refused to apologise for what they did during the war.
However, the Yoon-Kishida meeting raised hope in the US that it can become an effective alliance against North Korea’s threat and China’s assertive rise in the region.

Relief to the US
The summit came as a relief to the US after China brokered a significant meeting between two biggest rivals of the Muslim world and West Asia—Saudi Arabia and Iran last week.
US President Joe Biden has been criticised by allies and detractors for allowing China to walk away with the credit of the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement.
The Japan and South Korea meeting allows Washington to highlight it as a breakthrough when North Korea has resumed its nuclear and missile threats and China’s assertive rise is causing serious concerns in the Indo-Pacific.

“From now on, I would like to open a new chapter in Japan-South Korea relations through frequent visits by both sides that are not tied down by formality,” Kishida said after his meeting with his South Korean guest.
Yoon responded by saying, "We agreed to quickly restore dialogue channels discussing our common interests.”

Normalising relations

Ahead of the meeting Japan lifted restrictions on exports of semiconductor and display industry items to South Korea.
Seoul responded by withdrawing the complaint it made on the issue to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
South Korea also decided to normalise the General Security of Military

Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, the bilateral pact that was on the brink of termination.

During Yoon’s predecessor Moon Jae-in’s presidency, Seoul had threatened to pull out of the deal.

"We declared complete normalisation of GSOMIA so that both countries can share intelligence on launches and the routes of North Korean missiles," Yoon said.

He also held a business meeting with the captains of South Korean and Japanese companies on Friday.

Yoon said his attempt was to transform soured South Korea-Japan relations to ones that are future-oriented and prepare a framework for new business cooperation.

A breakthrough in bilateral relations suits both Kishida and Yoon to shore up stocks politically and diplomatically.

The Japanese Prime Minister’s stocks at home are currently low and he can use the summit with the South Korean President to showcase a breakthrough to bilateral ties that were hampered for several years.
None of his predecessors, Shinzo Abe or Yoshihide Suga had managed to solve the outstanding issues that were plaguing ties with Seoul.
Similarly, the breakthrough also works in Yoon’s favour as he can highlight the success in relations with Japan to claim he is not a political novice and boost cooperation between Korean businesses and industries with their Japanese counterpart.

Tricky issues

But observers say issues left behind from war history are tricky to resolve.
Though Japan has paid compensation to the South Korean government, family members of 15 descendants had moved the Supreme Court to argue that the compensation was given to the government and not them.

Hence, they were free to ask Japan for payment.

But though the Korean Supreme Court had ruled in their favour Japan refused to pay additional funds and the decision added further strains on bilateral ties.

Recently, Yoon has set up a foundation that would gather funds for the Koreans and their descendants.
Business groups of the two countries have agreed to donate to the foundation.

The Japanese government has clarified that it does not have objections to Japanese companies making voluntary donations.
But observers point out that given the wide-scale protests in South Korea, a new government in Seoul could overturn Yoon’s decision.
Moreover, it is difficult to wipe out a historical wrong merely by paying compensation.

In the absence of a sincere apology coming from Japan for the mistakes of its militarist past, relations between Tokyo and Seoul are unlikely to be put right in a hurry.