New Japanese Prime Minister Calls South Korea, Seeking to Mend Strained Relations

A ‘boycott Japan’ sticker put up in a South Korean subway demonstrates the political dispute that bled into a tense trade dispute between the two nations

New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held his first phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on September 24 amidst tense relations between the two East Asian powers.  

“I told President Moon that relations between the two countries are in a very severe condition right now, and we should not leave this unresolved,” Suga said to reporters. The Prime Minister stressed that as the two countries are neighbors that deal with similar issues, “Japan-South Korea… cooperation [is] crucial.”

Although both countries have a strong relationship with the United States, they have had poor relations with each other in the past. During Imperial Japanese expansion, Korea fell under occupation from 1910-1945. Japanese authorities committed widescale atrocities, suppressing Korean culture and forcing thousands of Korean women into sexual slavery to be “comfort women” for Japanese soldiers. 20 years after World War II, South Korea and Japan normalized relations, by signing a treaty in 1965. In the treaty, Japan agreed to pay $800 million to Korea in reparations.

The issue came to a head again in September 2018, when the South Korean Supreme Court ruled that certain Japanese businesses, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, had to compensate the Koreans harmed by Japan’s past atrocities. Japan refused to comply, claiming all compensation had been settled by the 1965 treaty. In retaliation, Japan removed Seoul’s status as a favored trade partner and imposed import controls on South Korean electronics companies, including Samsung. The move greatly upset South Korea’s economy and provoked widespread anger, leading to many South Koreans boycotting and vandalizing Japanese products 

At the time of Suga’s call, the trade dispute was still happening, and the Japanese and South Korean leaders had not interacted for nine months, primarily due to the icy relationship between Moon and Japan’s previous prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Observers regarded Abe, whom Suga replaced in August, as a right-wing nationalist who held revisionist views of Japanese history and denied the imperial government’s role in the perpetration of forced labor and comfort women.   

Many expected that Suga, who is from the same party as Abe, would largely follow the policies of his predecessor, though the call to South Korea suggests a wish to mend ties with a critical ally in the region, as both countries face common threats from North Korea and China. Suga did not give any indication on what steps Japan might take to improve their relationship, however, and suggested that the burden on easing tensions should fall on South Korea. Without concrete steps on Japan’s part, the dispute might continue a little while longer.

 “Based on Japan's consistent positions on the various problems, I plan to continue to strongly urge South Korea to take appropriate actions,” Suga said on the matter.