Will security concerns over China, North Korea push Japan, South Korea to resolve wartime labour dispute?

Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to continue close communication in a bid to resolve a dispute over wartime labour, according to the Japanese government, a day after Seoul suggested a solution to the issue, which has worsened bilateral ties.

Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his South Korean counterpart Park Jin pledged to restore healthy bilateral relations and further develop them by resolving the pending issue, when they spoke over the phone, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Tokyo has kept a low profile as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol struggled to win over former forced labourers who were put to work by Japanese corporations, their supporters and opposition politicians of the merits of a compensation plan.

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Japan has kept out of the domestic debate in South Korea, over concern that any intervention would be perceived as interference and further weaken Yoon's hand. But there is little doubt that Tokyo hopes to draw a line on an issue that has dogged relations for decades and accounted for all-time low bilateral ties.

Analysts point out that given the worsening security climate in northeast Asia - primarily the challenges posed by an expansionist China and an unpredictable and nuclear-armed North Korea - Tokyo is keen to develop closer defence links with Seoul. Before that can happen, however, the two nations' shared history needs to be resolved.

The South Korean Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that Nippon Steel should pay 100 million won (US$81,000) to each of four South Koreans who did forced labour for the company during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. The Japanese company's appeals were unsuccessful and, when it refused to pay the redress, the court seized the company's shares with a local venture.

To the fury of Tokyo, the court has said the assets will be sold and the funds used to provide the compensation, although that procedure has stalled in recent months as the South Korean government sought a way out of the impasse.

Similar compensation suits have been filed against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toyota, Nissan, NYK Line, Mitsui & Co and Sumitomo Metal.

The Japanese government has dismissed rulings against domestic companies and insists that all claims against Japan for its occupation of the peninsula between 1910 and 1945 were settled under the 1965 agreement that normalised diplomatic relations and provided US$300 million in compensation.

While the previous South Korean administration of Moon Jae-in was reluctant to intervene in the legal cases, the Yoon government has been actively seeking a way to solve the dispute while still avoiding accusations of letting down countrymen who endured often appalling conditions at Japanese companies.

On Thursday, the government held a public hearing in Seoul during which it outlined plans to utilise the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilisation by Imperial Japan as a third-party organisation to provide compensation to the victims. The funds will come from the South Korean government, which will invite Japanese and Korean firms to contribute donations.

The Japanese companies and the government in Tokyo will also be invited to offer apologies to the victims, although there is no mechanism to require them to do so, the Korean government admitted.

The backlash has been quick and fierce.

Lee Guk-eon, the head of a support group for victims based in Gwangju, southwest of Seoul, told Yonhap that the government's plan "downgrades" the severity of the history to merely a matter of money, accusing the Yoon administration of siding with Japan over the Supreme Court.

Opposition politicians demanded that the proposal be withdrawn, describing it as "humiliating".

The Japanese side is refusing to enter the fray, with Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi telling reporters in New York, "I would like to refrain from commenting on the developments in South Korea and on any statements made by the South Korean side.

"At the Japan-Korea summit in November last year, the two leaders once again shared the view that they would work to quickly resolve outstanding issues between Japan and Korea, and diplomatic authorities will continue to communicate with each other," he added.

"Based on the foundation of friendly and cooperative relations that we have built since the normalisation of diplomatic relations in 1965, we have maintained close communication with the South Korean government to restore and further develop Japan-South Korea relations in a healthy form," Hayashi added.

While Tokyo is being circumspect in public, analysts believe bilateral talks on the issue in recent months have been positive.

"Tokyo will not want to say anything as it could very easily be seized upon and used against the Yoon government," said Hiromi Murakami, a professor of political science at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's administration will be "encouraged by the more positive approach" of Yoon's administration, she said to This Week In Asia

"Government officials and politicians here really appreciate the steps that Yoon has taken to move forward on this, which has encouraged flexibility on the Japanese side," Murakami added.

Stephen Nagy, an associate professor of international relations at Tokyo's International Christian University, added that Kishida has been pleased at all the changes that Yoon has implemented since he came to power less than a year ago, including on security issues.

"Moving forward on the forced labourer issue through back door diplomacy and problem-solving mechanisms shows how Seoul prioritises broader partnerships on security, and that resonates with Tokyo," he said.

Nagy believes that problems concerning historic issues - such as the forced labourers and "comfort women" - will never entirely be solved as there will always be those that aim to make political capital out of confrontation, yet he remains optimistic that Yoon will be able to win sufficient support at home to resolve this issue.

And with that in mind, Murakami pointed out, the new-found rapprochement between Tokyo and Seoul may very well be on display when Kishida hosts the leaders of the G7 nations at the summit in May in Hiroshima.

South Korea has been invited to the event and, if genuine progress has been made, it could make the perfect stage for a display of camaraderie rather than confrontation, he added.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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