S. Korea to restore Japan’s trade status to improve ties

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Seoul, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Tuesday his government would act to restore Japan’s preferential trade status as it strives to resolve historical and trade disputes with Japan despite domestic opposition.

In lengthy televised comments at a cabinet meeting, Yoon defended his decisions, saying leaving ties with Japan so strained would be neglecting his duty, as greater bilateral cooperation is vital to solving the various challenges facing him. Seoul faces.

“I thought it would be like neglecting my duty as president if I had also incited hostile nationalism and anti-Japanese feelings to use them for domestic politics while leaving behind the current serious international political situation,” Yoon said. .

He said the need for stronger ties with Japan has increased due to the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear program, heightened US-China strategic rivalry and supply chain challenges. global supply.

South Korea and Japan have deep economic and cultural ties and are both key allies of the United States, which together host about 80,000 American troops. But their relationship has often fluctuated mainly due to issues stemming from Japan’s colonial rule from 1910 to 1945 on the Korean peninsula.

At the center of the recent standoff were 2018 South Korean court rulings that ordered two Japanese companies to compensate some of their former Korean employees for forced labor during Japanese colonial rule on the Korean peninsula. Japan refused to accept the rulings, saying all compensation issues had already been settled when the two countries normalized relations in 1965.

Historical disputes have spilled over to other issues, with the two countries degrading each other. Japan has also tightened controls on exports to South Korea, while Seoul has threatened to end a military intelligence-sharing pact.

After months of negotiations with Japan, Yoon’s government announced earlier this month that it would use local funds to compensate forced labor victims involved in the 2018 lawsuits without requiring contributions from Japanese companies.

Yoon traveled to Tokyo last week for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, where they agreed to resume regular visits and economic security talks.

Ahead of the summit, the South Korean government said Japan had agreed to lift export controls on South Korea and that South Korea would also withdraw its complaint to the World Trade Organization once the restrictions lifted. They said the two countries would also continue talks on restoring their reciprocal trade status.

Yoon’s push sparked protests from some of the forced labor victims, their supporters, and opposition political parties who demanded direct compensation from Japanese companies and a direct apology from Tokyo for the forced labor. A public survey suggested that around 60% of Koreans opposed Yoon’s moves to address the forced labor issue.

In his remarks to the Cabinet, Yoon said he would direct his trade minister to begin taking the necessary legal steps to re-include Japan in a “white list” of countries with preferential trade status.

He said South Korea and Japan should remove the obstacles that stand in the way of improving bilateral relations. “If South Korea preemptively removes the obstacles, Japan will surely reciprocate,” he said.

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