South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands after their talks in Tokyo today
By Venkatesh Raghavan & Deepak Parvatiyar
It is the United States that is smiling as Japan and South Korea bury the hatchet to share a newly found bonhomie following the first visit by a South Korean President to Tokyo in 12 years.
Much to Washington’s delight, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo after both sides decided to mend the fences that had caused a strained relationship between the two US allies for decades. South Korea was a Japanese colony from 1910 until the end of the second world war when Japanese soldiers forced Koreans to work in its mines and factories, and pushed Korean women into sexual slavery.
The dispute over who should compensate for forced labour during Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula got resolved today, with President Yoon declaring that big Korean companies will provide the compensation package.
Yoon in fact had announced on March 7, 2023, his administration’s solution to compensation for forced labour victims during the Japanese colonial period, saying, “As a result of respecting the position of the victims, we have sought ways to meet the common interests and future development of both [South] Korea and Japan.” A day earlier, on March 6, the South Korean government had announced its solution to compensate the victims and their families through a “third-party reimbursement” plan with funding from a foundation under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. On the same day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio said the efforts were “aiming to restore Japan-Korea relations to a healthy state,” adding, “Japan will work to improve the relations through close communication with President Yoon Suk Yeol.” The U.S., United Nations (UN), European Union (EU) and others had issued statements welcoming Seoul’s solution to the issue. US President Joe Biden on March 6 told a White House briefing in Washington, “Today’s announcements between the Republic of Korea and Japan mark a groundbreaking new chapter of cooperation and partnership between two of the United States’ closest allies.”
The newly shared bonhomie between Tokyo and Seoul is not without adequate catalyzing factors. It includes Chinese attempts with the borders of India and the Philippines besides North Korea firing long-range ballistic missiles on the eastern coast of the Korean peninsula. Kishida and Yoon also spelt out that the bilateral security talks will emphasize effectively countering the nuclear and missile threats posed by North Korea. Japan is also constantly worried about China’s aggressive posture towards Taiwan. Prior to today’s landmark summit talks between the Japanese and South Korean leaders, the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman had spoken with Japanese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mori Takeo about the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and commitment to cooperation during Japan’s G7 presidency and the U.S. APEC host year.
China reacted cautiously to Yoon’s visit to Tokyo and opposed “certain countries’ attempts” (read the United States) to form exclusionary cliques. Beijing pointed out that China, Japan and the ROK are each other’s “important” trade partners, and hence keeping industrial and supply chains stable and unfettered is in the interest of all three countries and the entire region. “We hope Japan-ROK ties will move forward in a way that is conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, said in Beijing.
The US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, today sounded the shift in geopolitical strategy with both South Korea and Japan burying the hatchet of the bygone decades and seeking close bilateral ties will augur well for the strategic allies of the West. He hailed the move as a new chapter that will not only address close political ties but also strategic defence interests in the region.
In course of the summit talks today, Japan and ROK addressed the future course in their bilateral partnership with frequent visits from the heads of state of both countries. As a first step towards forging their alliance, Yoon assured that military intelligence sharing between South Korea and Japan is being restored to complete normalcy levels. This is slated to include all information on North Korea’s nuclear missile launches besides the trajectories that are employed and also envisages responding in a counter-offensive manner.
Both countries decided on walking the extra mile. While Japan agreed to lift its restrictions over the export of high-technology semiconductor raw materials to South Korea, the South Korean side has promised to revoke its complaint to the World Trade Organization on these items. Both sides expressed their keenness in setting aside the almost century-long trade dispute that dwelt on Japan utilizing forced labour on the Korean peninsula during the former’s colonial occupation of the land.
Yoon’s visit is considered to be a very significant move in transforming the open combative stand between the two East Asian countries into an atmosphere of cooperative partnership. Though there were brief spans of a patch-up between the two countries in the mid-nineteen sixties, the simmering cold war-type acrimony has been given its first chance to be put to rest.
