On March 2022, 3, Yorijun Watanabe, Dean of the Faculty of International Communication, made a Zoom appearance on Arirang International, a Korean international broadcaster, and commented on the future trends in Korea-Japan relations under the new administration of Yoon Seok-yeol. .
▽ 2022.3.15 『Arirang International』
Reference script
Q1. Pres.-elect Yoon and Japanese PM Kishida agreed to boost bilateral relationship during their phone conversation. Washington also expects the incoming Yoon administration to ramp up cooperation with the US and Japan over countering China and N. Korea. How will the three nations Cooperate on such matters moving forward?
⇒ The 15-minute telephone conversation indicates some positive signs; committed that they will work together to improve the troubled bilateral relations.
While the United States is currently busy with the situations in Ukraine, it is absolutely important that the two major allies in the Far East, namely Japan and RoK have a solid bilateral relationship to cope with the problems of the region such as the power-greedy China and troublesome North Korea. The effectiveness of the US presence in the North East Asian region depends very much on the steady and close relations between Japan and RoK including military cooperation including the intelligence field such as the GSOMIA.
Q2. As opposed to the Moon administration, which relied on a two-track approach in addressing historical and security cooperation separately, the incoming Yoon administration is expected to make a comprehensive approach to the lingering issues with Japan. How do you suggest the two countries iron out their conflicts under the Yoon presidency?
⇒ The bilateral relation with Japan for RoK depends very much on the domestic politics of RoK. Whenever the Blue House was faced with the political difficulty or with losing popularity, the administration used Japan as a scapegoat; Mr. Lee Myong Bak landed the Dok To island , Takeshima Island for Japanese and even went as far as accusing the Emperor asking him to apologize as Mr. Lee was troubled with the family scandal.
The first step forward is to hold a summit meeting between the two leaders on the earliest occasion upon the inauguration of the presidency. , should be at least suspended by government order or a presidential decree if not completely overturned. Should this happen, it will have a devastating consequence on the bilateral relations. It is the red-line that should not be stepped in.
In addition, the agreement concluded in December 2015 regarding the so-called comfort women should be re-affirmed. It was an international agreement binding both governments, and should be dealt with accordingly. Respect to and due diligence of an international agreement is the basis It goes without saying that such international agreements include the Treaty of Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and RoK in 1965, which duly settled down the issues of compensation between the two countries.
