ROK concession on forced labor in order to win Japan's affection

Republic of Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin announced at a press conference on Monday a plan to resolve the issue of wartime forced labor with Japan, saying the Foundation for Victims of Forced Mobilization, affiliated with the ROK's interior ministry, will pay damages and interest on arrears to the plaintiffs who won three lawsuits in the Supreme Court in 2018.

The compensation will be financed through voluntary donations from the private sector, rather than direct payment by responsible Japanese companies. Given that the dispute over compensation for forced laborers and "comfort women" during World War II have long plagued ROK-Japan ties, the ROK no longer seeking compensation from Japanese companies marks a significant shift in its foreign policy.

Japan has paid no real price on the forced labor issue, and has also not hesitated to whitewash its shameful past. In 2015, it declared seven facilities related to forced labor "world cultural heritages". ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol's plan is the first time a government in the ROK is making a concession, and a huge one at that.

In fact, at a ceremony in Seoul on March 1, to commemorate the 104th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, Yoon indicated he was eager to make peace with Japan, saying that the "shameful and sad history" should not be forgotten, but a century after the March 1 Movement, Japan has transformed from a military aggressor to a partner that shares universal values with the ROK and works together on economic security and global issues.

In exchange for the deal, the ROK hopes Japan will lift export restrictions on key semiconductor materials, which will help the country's semiconductor industry recover and boost its export trade. The proposal could increase possibilities of the ROK and Japan strengthening cooperation in military and other fields, something the United States would like to see, but it is bound to increase instability within the ROK. The main opposition Democratic Party denounced the plan as "submissive diplomacy", and many ROK groups also rejected the plan, with some activists even comparing it to Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910.

The ROK made significant concessions during the negotiation of the ROK-Japan Claims Agreement of 1965, but relations between the two countries remained tense. It lies to be seen whether the ROK's latest concession can make it a partner of Japan.