Breaking the deadlock: The Japan-South Korea ‘comfort women’ dispute
Breaking the deadlock: The Japan-South Korea ‘comfort women’ dispute
WRITTEN BY WICHUTA TEERATANABODEE
13 October 2021
Over the past few years, relations between two key US allies — Japan and South Korea — have soured to arguably their lowest point since the 1965 diplomatic normalisation. China’s recent increased diplomatic interest in South Korea is also adding pressure on Washington amidst the ROK’s ambiguous position in the US-China competition. The Biden administration arrives just in time to help Tokyo and Seoul reconcile their differences, including a longstanding disagreement over how to finally address the issue of the so-called comfort women.
South Korea and Japan have long argued over historical issues, such as wartime labourers and sexual slavery. Korean victims and their families have been left with graphic memories, which are particularly hard to forget, and there remains a perception that Japan has failed to offer a sufficient apology.
Souring relations
In February 2021, the South Korean Ministry of National Defence (MND) launched an annual White Paper 2020, detailing its current defence capabilities and strategies. The document grabbed attention because Seoul downgraded Tokyo’s status from a partner to the lessor ‘close neighbours’.
Events, such as the ROK reversing its decision to end the military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan due to threats from the North, have shown that the two countries can put aside their bitter relations to focus on regional threats.
This is a significant departure from the 2018 White Paper, in which South Korea described its relations with Japan as “…close neighbours as well as partners cooperating for global peace and prosperity”. In the latest version, however, their relations are described as “close neighbours that could cooperate…for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia and the world”. Omitting the term ‘partner’ is just the latest development in a series of events that have fuelled mistrust between the main pillars of the regional security architecture designed (among other things) to help contain an increasingly belligerent North Korea.
Various attempts for reconciliation have been made over the years and in 2016, the two countries established the Tokyo-funded Reconciliation and Healing Foundation to provide financial support for former comfort women. However, under the Moon Jae-in administration, South Korea unilaterally dissolved the Foundation after just two years, reasoning that the voices of comfort women were being ignored and that Japan lacked sufficient sincerity in dealing with the issue.
Tensions have since escalated and this acrimony has manifested in recent trade conflicts. In 2019, both removed one another from their whitelists of valuable trade partners. Furthermore, Japan imposed restrictions on exports of key chemicals for ROK’s significant semiconductor industry — fluorinated polyimides, photoresists, and hydrogen fluoride. The issue has since permeated their security relationship, with South Korea threatening to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement, a key military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan.
In January 2021, the South Korean Supreme Court ruled that the Japanese government should compensate former comfort women. Japan declined even to appeal the decision as that would mean it accepted South Korea’s jurisdiction. In April 2021, another judge from the same court dismissed the lawsuit, reasoning that Japan has the right to state immunity. While this recent decision was welcomed by the Japanese government, it sparked controversy in South Korea. The ball is likely to be passed to higher South Korean courts for final rulings.
Regional threats and the US security alliance
As Japan and South Korea are the US’ security partners in dealing with key regional challenges, such as China’s increasing military assertiveness and North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, the recurring clashes pose challenges to the security outlook of both countries and the US. China’s increasing military capacity and assertiveness are a particular concern. In February 2021, China introduced a new Coast Guard Law, upgrading its coast guards to a quasi-military status, allowing them to fire at foreign ships. These developments in China’s offensive capacity and intentions have led to concerns not only in Japan and South Korea but also in the US. Souring relations between the region’s two key democracies only adds to Washington’s problems.
Furthermore, China has recently shown signs it intends to strengthen diplomatic relations with South Korea. Chinese President Xi reached out to President Moon soon after the Biden administration came into power in January 2021. Since Seoul is seen as the weak link in US-Japan-ROK trilateral relations, this action is believed to be part of Beijing’s diplomatic campaign to challenge the US.
Caught between two mistrusting allies and chased by China’s increased interest in ROK, the incoming Biden administration has indicated that it is paying close attention to Japan-South Korea relations. Within only a month of Biden’s inauguration, the US Department of State has already held the first meeting with Japanese and South Korean diplomats on addressing the North Korean challenges. This suggests that Washington under its new leader is committed to restoring the relationship between its two significant allies.
A strong trilateral relationship is critical for both the individual and collective security of the US, South Korea, and Japan in addition to the wider Indo-Pacific region. Collectively they should therefore take the opportunity, provided by recent changes in leadership in Tokyo and Washington, to renegotiate the comfort women issue. This topic has been the bottleneck of their security alliance as it has triggered several waves of Japan-ROK conflicts throughout the past few years. If the two neighbours can overcome this historical challenge, a security alliance against China and North Korea could be easier to achieve.
The way forward
The three countries should consider the following recommendations. First, as the trilateral approach seems to be welcomed by Prime Minister Suga of Japan, the US should proactively urge its two allies to renegotiate, citing that strong bilateral relations are essential for tackling regional challenges posed by China’s rise and North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. Events, such as the ROK reversing its decision to end the military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan due to threats from the North, have shown that the two countries can put aside their bitter relations to focus on regional threats.
Second, Prime Minister Suga should learn from the actions of his predecessors when it comes to symbolic actions. During his term, former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo clearly stated that he had no intention of sending an apology letter regarding the comfort women issues, triggering South Korea’s decision to disband the Reconciliation Foundation. Suga should therefore start with a small step and — at least — seek to avoid actions perceived as disrespectful to Koreans, such as visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine.
Third, while being open to “appropriate measures” to address the comfort women issue, Japan always turns down a legal approach. When the ROK court ruled Japan should compensate former comfort women earlier this year, Suga rejected the ruling. Therefore, South Korea should consider prioritising a non-legal approach to at least allow conversations for a potential rapprochement to begin. To ensure attempts toward reconciliation do not face the same fate as that of the Reconciliation Foundation, both countries should adopt a victim-centric approach by allowing former comfort women to participate in the decision-making process. This could be done, for instance, by setting up a negotiation committee and inviting former victims to be part of it. If an institution similar to the Reconciliation Foundation is to be established, both governments should also ensure that the objectives and institutional operations would respond to the needs of former comfort women.
Given the threats from China and North Korea, strong ties between Tokyo and Seoul are essential to maintain regional stability. The comfort women issue is a resurfacing challenge hindering a harmonious bilateral relationship between the two neighbours. If the issue is left unresolved, achieving mutual trust and security cooperation will continue to be difficult, which would add to Washington’s worries as it manages tensions with Beijing. By making attempts to renegotiate their historical issues relating to comfort-women in good faith, South Korea and Japan might be able to deescalate tensions and resolve their grudges over wartime memories and prioritise their security cooperation to deal with threats in the region.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Author biography
Wichuta Teeratanabodee is a graduate research assistant at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Image credit: Flickr/Hossam el-Hamalawy.