Japan hit for high-handedness toward Korea
President Moon Jae-in’s efforts to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga have gone up in smoke due mainly to Tokyo’s refusal to compromise over thorny historical issues. On Monday, Moon decided not to visit Japan to attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled for Friday.
We have to express regret over Japan’s high-handed attitude toward South Korea. The conservative Suga administration should take all the responsibility for dashing the hopes for a summit between the two countries. It also must get the blame for squandering a rare opportunity to mend bilateral ties which have reached their lowest since relations were normalized in 1965.
It is not too much to say that Suga has had no intention of meeting Moon to discuss pending issues such as Japan’s wartime forced labor and sex slavery. Suga has only repeated his hardline stance that Korea should first come up with measures to resolve the dispute arising from the Korean Supreme Court’s ruling in 2018 that ordered Japanese firms to pay compensation to surviving South Korean victims of forced labor.
In an apparent retaliation against the ruling, Tokyo imposed export restrictions on key industrial materials in 2019 which are essential for Korean companies to produce semiconductors and display panels. It also removed Korea from its list of favored trading partners, inviting criticism for leveraging trade in its diplomatic row with Seoul. In a word, Japan has gone too far in evading responsibility for its wartime atrocities.
Against this backdrop, President Moon has been searching for a breakthrough in the soured ties in order to forge a future-oriented partnership with the Asian neighbor. He has been continuously offering to meet with Suga for frank talks to find a solution to the history-related issues. Regrettably, however, Suga has scoffed at Moon’s overtures for dialogue.
As a result, Seoul and Tokyo have yet to narrow their differences over how to put bilateral relations back on track. Neither side can move forward toward the future as long as the Japanese government keeps insisting that all reparation claims arising from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were addressed by the 1965 basic treaty. Suga and his government need to take a flexible attitude so that they can pave the way for settling historical issues.
Making matters worse, Tokyo has laid claim ― yet again ― to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo in its defense white paper published July 13. Inappropriate remarks by Hirohisa Soma, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, have also added fuel to the fire. He ridiculed President Moon’s efforts to hold a summit with Suga, describing them as “masturbating.” The Japanese government has refused to take stern action against Soma although it expressed regret over what he said.
The Moon administration reportedly requested Tokyo lift its export restrictions as a precondition for a summit. But Japan refused to accept the request. In this situation, Moon had to scrap his plan to visit Tokyo. However, the two countries should not stop searching for a solution through dialogue and compromise. We urge Japan to face up to its history squarely and make sincere efforts to build trust with Korea.
President Moon Jae-in’s efforts to hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga have gone up in smoke due mainly to Tokyo’s refusal to compromise over thorny historical issues. On Monday, Moon decided not to visit Japan to attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled for Friday.
We have to express regret over Japan’s high-handed attitude toward South Korea. The conservative Suga administration should take all the responsibility for dashing the hopes for a summit between the two countries. It also must get the blame for squandering a rare opportunity to mend bilateral ties which have reached their lowest since relations were normalized in 1965.
It is not too much to say that Suga has had no intention of meeting Moon to discuss pending issues such as Japan’s wartime forced labor and sex slavery. Suga has only repeated his hardline stance that Korea should first come up with measures to resolve the dispute arising from the Korean Supreme Court’s ruling in 2018 that ordered Japanese firms to pay compensation to surviving South Korean victims of forced labor.
In an apparent retaliation against the ruling, Tokyo imposed export restrictions on key industrial materials in 2019 which are essential for Korean companies to produce semiconductors and display panels. It also removed Korea from its list of favored trading partners, inviting criticism for leveraging trade in its diplomatic row with Seoul. In a word, Japan has gone too far in evading responsibility for its wartime atrocities.
Against this backdrop, President Moon has been searching for a breakthrough in the soured ties in order to forge a future-oriented partnership with the Asian neighbor. He has been continuously offering to meet with Suga for frank talks to find a solution to the history-related issues. Regrettably, however, Suga has scoffed at Moon’s overtures for dialogue.
As a result, Seoul and Tokyo have yet to narrow their differences over how to put bilateral relations back on track. Neither side can move forward toward the future as long as the Japanese government keeps insisting that all reparation claims arising from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula were addressed by the 1965 basic treaty. Suga and his government need to take a flexible attitude so that they can pave the way for settling historical issues.
Making matters worse, Tokyo has laid claim ― yet again ― to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo in its defense white paper published July 13. Inappropriate remarks by Hirohisa Soma, the deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, have also added fuel to the fire. He ridiculed President Moon’s efforts to hold a summit with Suga, describing them as “masturbating.” The Japanese government has refused to take stern action against Soma although it expressed regret over what he said.
The Moon administration reportedly requested Tokyo lift its export restrictions as a precondition for a summit. But Japan refused to accept the request. In this situation, Moon had to scrap his plan to visit Tokyo. However, the two countries should not stop searching for a solution through dialogue and compromise. We urge Japan to face up to its history squarely and make sincere efforts to build trust with Korea.
Dashing hopes for summit
Source: Buhay Kapa PH
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