
South Korean civic groups hold up red cards during a rally against the South Korean government’s announcement of a plan over the issue of compensation for requisitioned workers at the National Assembly in Seoul on Tuesday.
17:49 JST, March 10, 2023
SEOUL — South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has pledged to resolve the issue of former requisitioned workers from the Korean Peninsula and restart mutual visits with Japan.
Yoon carried out his pledges at the risk of receiving criticism from the South Korean public because he believes that strengthening security, economic and other cooperation with Japan will directly serve his country’s national interest.
According to the Yonhap news agency, Yoon emphasized at a State Council meeting Tuesday that he had merely implemented his pledges.
A senior South Korean government official said to The Yomiuri Shimbun that Yoon had told his close aides that “Japan is a liberal democratic country like South Korea and if there are history issues [between the two countries], we should resolve them.”
With the North Korean threat growing, there is an urgent need to strengthen cooperation between Japan, the United States and South Korea.
Almost a year has passed since Yoon was elected president, and he is now clearly showing his stance, which the abovementioned official views as being “rational and pragmatic.”
At a ceremony to commemorate the March First Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule, Yoon called Japan a “partner” of South Korea. This marked a shift from the hard-line policy toward Japan of some of his predecessors’ administrations that had brought history issues to the fore.
“This is probably because Yoon is not a career politician, so he does not need to care about his own political base,” a source said.
According to an opinion poll conducted by South Korean polling firm Realmeter on Tuesday and Wednesday, only about 40% of all respondents supported the South Korean government’s plan to resolve the issue of former requisitioned workers. Support reached about 60% among conservatives while it stood at about 30% among centrists and about 20% among leftists.
While slightly less than 70% of all respondents said the Japan-South Korean relationship needed to be improved, there is a strong opposition within the country against a rapid improvement in the bilateral ties.
Since Yoon’s party does not have a majority in the National Assembly, he will face difficulties running national affairs until the end of his five-year term unless the party wins the general elections next spring. Before the election campaign gets fully underway, Yoon apparently wanted to move to resolve the issue, which is certain to trigger criticism from the public.
"World" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Japanese Firefighter Who Worked in Quake-Hit Myanmar Hopes Others Will Help in Intl Relief Efforts
-
Glass Stresses Need for U.S.-Japan Alliance to Invest, Innovate; Commends Japan for Taking Leading Role in Region
-
Head of Interim Bangladesh Govt Yunus: Election to Be Held Between Dec. 2025 and June 2026; Cotton, LNG Eyed as Bargaining Chips in Bangladesh-U.S. Trade Talks
-
Egyptian Candidate for Unesco’s Top Spot Stresses Agency’s Role in Times of Crisis
-
Vietnam, Thailand Aim to Grow Rice Exports to Japan
JN ACCESS RANKING
-
Aichi Rice Production Under Siege from Warming Climate; Record Heat Stunts Crop Growth, Causes Greater Pest Activity
-
Japanese Researchers Develop ‘Transparent Paper’ as Alternative to Plastics; New Material Is Biodegradable, Can Be Produced with Low Carbon Emissions
-
Japan’s Core Inflation Hits More than 2-year High, Could Force Year-End BOJ Hike
-
Trump: Nippon Steel Will Part Own U.S. Steel, U.S. to Be in Control; Share Distribution, Other Details Remain Unclear
-
Japan’s Maglev Shinkansen’s Partially Completed Station Unveiled; Station Will Be Only Underground Stop Between Shinagawa, Nagoya