Japan, South Korea Resume Economic Talks After 7 Years as Relations Improve

Japan, South Korea Resume Economic Talks After 7 Years as Relations Improve
South Korea Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho attends the G-20 Finance Ministers Meeting in Nusa Dua, on Indonesia resort island of Bali, on July 15, 2022. Sonny Tumbelaka/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Aldgra Fredly
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Japan and South Korea agreed on May 2 to resume finance ministers’ talks that had been stalled for seven years, in the latest sign of thawing ties between the two nations strained by wartime disputes.

South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho and his Japanese counterpart, Shunichi Suzuki, met on the sidelines of the annual Asian Development Bank (ADB) summit in the South Korean city of Incheon.

The two ministers agreed to hold the meeting “at an appropriate time this year,” Yonhap News Agency reported. The financial dialogue between South Korean and Japanese ministers was last held in 2016.

“[As the two countries] consider free trade and market system to be the key of their economic management, there are many areas in which the two governments and the private sectors can join forces,” Choo said.

The minister suggested that South Korea and Japan expand cooperation in semiconductors, space, and biotechnology. Choo said the two nations could cooperate to address low birth rates.

Suzuki said he intends to enhance bilateral financial relations with South Korea so that both nations can work together to address global economic challenges.

“South Korea and Japan are important neighbors that need to cooperate to address various tasks of the global economy, as well as the regional and international society,” Suzuki told reporters.

The announcement came ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s two-day visit to South Korea on April 30, which could mark a resumption of shuttle diplomacy between leaders of both nations.

Kishida will meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol during his visit for bilateral talks. This will be their second meeting since they agreed to normalize ties at a summit in Tokyo in March.
“It will be a good opportunity to frankly exchange opinions on ways to develop Japan-South Korea relations and the rapidly changing international situation,” Kishida told reporters, according to Kyodo News.

South Korea-Japan ‘Complete Normalization’

The two countries agreed on “the complete normalization” of a military intelligence-sharing pact during the summit in March. Kishida said he hoped to “open a new chapter” in the relations between South Korea and Japan by resuming bilateral visits “without being bound by formality.”

Yoon had signaled his wish to improve the relationship between Japan and South Korea after he was elected last year.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands ahead of a summit meeting at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on March 16, 2023. (Kiyoshi Ota/Pool/Getty Images)
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands ahead of a summit meeting at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, on March 16, 2023. Kiyoshi Ota/Pool/Getty Images

At a ceremony to commemorate South Korea’s independence from Japanese rule on March 1, instead of asking for an apology from Japan, as previous South Korean presidents had done on that date, Yoon signaled a willingness to work with Japan.

“Today, Japan has transformed from a militaristic colonizing power in the past to South Korea’s important regional partner that shares the same values and can work together on the issues of security, trade, and global affairs,” he said in his speech.

Yoon said that he believes that in the context of the current geopolitical shuffle in northeast Asia, it’s important to change the previous strategy of maintaining a balance between the United States and China and to join the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific strategy.

The two countries’ relations have been hampered by historical disputes, including the forced labor of Koreans by Japanese companies during Japan’s 1910–1945 colonial rule of Korea and the exploitation of Korean women in Japanese military-run brothels.

In 2018, the South Korean Supreme Court ruled in favor of compensation by Japanese companies that benefitted from forced labor. However, Japan argued that all compensation issues had been resolved under a 1965 treaty between the two nations.

To improve ties with Japan, South Korea’s government has decided to use local funds to compensate victims of forced labor instead of pushing Japanese companies to pay compensation.
Ben Zhao contributed to this report.
Aldgra Fredly
Aldgra Fredly
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Aldgra Fredly is a freelance writer covering U.S. and Asia Pacific news for The Epoch Times.
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