South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin strives to resolve the forced labor and comfort women issue - What does the Korean economy, where the won continues to be weak, demand from Japan?
2022-07-20
Category:South Korea
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The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is extremely knowledgeable
South Korean Foreign Minister Park, who is visiting Japan, emphasized that regarding the issue of labor recruitment lawsuits, ``We are making efforts within South Korea to find a desirable solution before cashing out,'' and added, ``The Japanese side also responded with a sincere response.'' I would appreciate it if you could give me that."
Mr. Nukaga, who met with him after the meeting, told reporters that he "intended to respect" the 2015 comfort women agreement that confirmed the "final and irreversible resolution" of the comfort women issue. I made it.
South Korea is keen on restoring Japan-Korea relations
The current Yun Seok-Yue administration appears to be eager to repair relations with Japan. Before he took office as president, he sent a delegation of members of Congress to express his sincerity, and after taking office, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has shown an attitude of fully accepting the intentions of the Japanese side. But don't let your guard down.
Korea's diplomatic techniques that you can't let your guard down
The South Korean government's approach so far has been to extract some kind of concession from Japan, take it as a diplomatic credit, and then try to make a temporary move, and the pattern is to come back to it again and again.
Japan should negotiate without losing its stance that there is nothing Japan can do. In reality, the issue of post-war compensation has already been resolved in all agreements between Japan and South Korea.
The true feelings of getting closer to Japan
The Korean won continues to be at a low price with no signs of rising. Due to the impact of interest rate hikes and the Bank of Korea trying to recover the won spent during the coronavirus pandemic, corporate investment will slow down. Since the won is not depreciating as sharply as before, it seems that the price is not falling off a cliff and is managing to cope even with the price dropping to around 1,300 won.
Excited about swapping
The US Federal Reserve has also begun withdrawing dollars from the market and raising interest rates. The Korean government wants to carry out another swap and looks at the American expression, but its expression remains firm. That's why it's Japan. I would like to somehow conclude a swap with the key currency to provide peace of mind.
Although South Korea has experienced economic growth, its industrial structure is a chaebol economy that generates profits through processing trade through bulk purchases and bulk sales, so domestic demand never grows, and it is greatly affected by exchange rate fluctuations. The national debt is increasing, household debt has exceeded GDP, and land prices in Seoul continue to soar, making it difficult to see when they will rebound. There is nothing wrong with the fact that Won is vulnerable.
To what extent will the Japan-Korea issue be resolved
The Japan-Korea issue is not just about the forced labor issue or the comfort women issue. In addition to the Takeshima issue, South Korea has broken all of the agreements that Japan and South Korea have concluded to date. The Japan-Korea joint declaration was left blank. The issue of excluding countries from the White List stems from concerns about the transfer of funds to North Korea and third countries.
Clarify what relationship improvement means
Just because the issue of forced labor, which is about to be turned into cash, and the issue of comfort women, where statues of comfort women are being erected all over the world, are recent issues, it is normalization because these two issues have been resolved. Would you? In the first place, when South Korea refers to normalization, it means that they want to go back to the days when they were given special treatment.
Special treatment is over
Why did South Korea become a white country? Why did Japan do swaps during two economic collapses? This is only because Korea was given special treatment. It should be made clear that there will never again be a time when relations are treated as special even though they have been normalized.
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Park Geun - hye's special pardon has been decided. What is Moon Jae - in planning? It's been 4 years and 9 months.
Former President Park Geun-hye, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison, was granted a special pardon on the 24th and will be free from midnight on the 31st. It has been 4 years, 9 months, and 1,736 days since he was arrested on March 31, 2017.
Former President Park expressed her gratitude to President Moon Jae-in. Lawyer Yoo said, ``I apologize to the people for causing so much worry.Also, thank you for your continued support and encouragement.Despite all the hardships, Moon Jae-in decided to be pardoned. I would like to express my great gratitude to the President and the government authorities.I would like to return to my job as a new soldier, concentrate on my treatment, and personally express my gratitude to the people as soon as possible,'' former President Park Geun-hye said.
The longest prison term for a South Korean president was former President Park Geun-hye's 1,736 days.
In August of this year, in the decision to parole the head of the Samsung Group, the opposition party mainly requested that Park Geun-hye be pardoned, but Moon Jae-in refused. Those seeking a pardon had called for Park Geun-hye's release on the grounds that it would eliminate the cause of national division, but the latest decision by the Blue House to grant the pardon is precisely to eliminate the division among the people.
It may be a naive point of view, but it is customary for South Korean presidents to be arrested for some crime once their term ends. Did Moon Jae-in think that Park Geun-hye would be pardoned no matter who the next president becomes? If she was to be pardoned anyway, I would be the one to be pardoned.
Does this mean that he is showing sincerity to the opposition and wants his prosecution to be overlooked? In any case, the 22-year sentence for bribery charges is shocking. This is a Japanese feeling, but since he was sentenced to prison for 4 years and 9 months, it is best that he was released.
Moon Jae-in won the presidential election despite having little political experience due to the impeachment of Park Geun-hye. Why was he pardoned at this time? It is said that Moon Jae-in was the one who sent Park Geun-hye to prison.
Voting for South Korea's unified local elections was held on June 1st, with the ruling party
Local elections won by the ruling party
Local administration launches anti-Japanese movement
The president is the head of the executive branch
Twisted power runs amok
Efforts to improve relationships are always destroyed
Adopts resolution that violates international commitments
South Korea cannot keep its promises
Voting for South Korea's unified local elections was held on June 1st, with the ruling party "People's Power" winning 12 out of 17 regions, and the "Tomo Democratic Party" winning 4 regions including Jeolla Province and Gyeonggi Province by a narrow margin. It is reported that the ruling party won by a landslide, winning only five regions. This appears to be a trend that will lead to a resolution of the kinks between local government, the president, and the cabinet.
The No Japan movement was largely led by local governments. Gyeonggi Province, Seoul City, and Busan City have passed ordinances stipulating ``war criminal company stickers'' or ``restrictions on the purchase of war criminal company products.'' This is a surprising ordinance that places stickers on the products of Japanese companies that have been unilaterally labeled as war criminal companies, and restricts the use and purchase of those products in government agencies and schools.
Local governments in South Korea not only decide local leaders, but also exercise a variety of powers, including issuing ordinances that can lead to diplomatic issues between countries.
Regarding the ban on imports from Fukushima Prefecture, fishing organizations in coastal areas such as Busan are putting tremendous pressure on local governments. This is a local economic issue, and we do not want to import Japanese seafood to South Korea. This is to protect Korean fishing organizations. It is clear from the beginning that this is not a scientific problem.
The president assumes the position of head of the executive branch. Since the president is the head of state who is directly elected by the votes of all citizens, he is given great powers, unlike the prime minister in a parliamentary system.
In a parliamentary system, the leader of the parliament with the largest majority is elected prime minister. Therefore, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and the Diet, which is the legislative branch, will not be distorted. If anything could be twisted, the House of Representatives and the House of Councilors would be twisted.
In South Korea, the current president is Yun Seok-Yeol, who ran for office based on ``the power of the people,'' and the Democratic Party of Korea holds 58% of the seats in the National Assembly, the legislative body. In other words, even if the president uses his prerogatives, Congress can pass one bill after another to nullify them.
Substantive exchanges between Japan and South Korea began in 1998, when the Japan-Korea Joint Declaration was signed. Until then, Japanese culture, anime, manga, dramas, etc. had been prohibited in South Korea, but this declaration will lift the ban on these. It was also during this period that Korean dramas and K-POP began to flow into Japan.
Also known as the Obuchi-Kim Dae-jung Declaration, it was a declaration that comprehensively resolved the Japan-Korea issue, including the joint hosting of the 2002 FIFA World Cup between Japan and Korea and the conclusion of a new fisheries agreement regarding the Takeshima issue. It will be deactivated immediately thereafter.
On July 18, 2001, the South Korean parliament passed a unanimous resolution calling on the South Korean government to abolish the Japan-Korea Joint Declaration. Then, a large number of Korean fishing boats appeared near Takeshima, and the territorial issue reignited and continues to this day, and the activities of civil society groups on issues such as the forced labor issue and the comfort women issue further expanded. This is despite the fact that the World Cup was co-hosted by Japan and South Korea in 2002.
Will Congress vote to invalidate the president's diplomatic promises with other countries? Such unbelievable things happen in the South Korean National Assembly.
This has hardly been reported in Japan. Japan was united towards the success of the Japan-Korea joint World Cup. And during the match of this tournament, an incident occurs where Korean players criticize the Rising Sun flag and promote Takeshima as Korean territory. The premise behind this was that South Korea was already trying to revoke the 1998 Joint Declaration.
In South Korea, the president's powers will only be effectively exercised if he wins the presidential election and unified local elections, and the ``power of the people'' wins the national election in 2024.
The issue of South Korean ships conducting investigations around Takeshima shortly before and immediately after the presidential inauguration became a problem. In other words, South Korea is not even equipped to keep its promises..
This is especially noticeable in anti-Japanese groups. In South Korea, members of both the ruling and opposition parties are basically anti-Japanese.. Even if the Diet tries to improve relations with Japan as a matter of policy, if its practical interests are endangered, it will easily turn into an anti-Japanese Diet.
In Japan, if things are twisted, things will not be decided, but in Korea, twisted power begins to run amok. It is an uncontrolled rampage that continues even if international agreements are broken.
What are your expectations for President Yun Seok-yue? Twisted National Assembly is a thorny road - Should Japan approve or wait and see? - South Korea's general election will be held in 2024.
Positive theory of Japan-Korea relations and wait-and-see theory
Remains twisted until 2024
Will true speech be freed under the new administration
Korean society will be denounced if it affirms Japanese rule
A country where there is no freedom of speech about history
Looking at Japanese public opinion regarding the prospects for Japan-Korea relations since the inauguration of the Yun Seok-Yeol administration, there are some positive views toward improving relations and a wait-and-see view seen mainly on the right. As always, the affirmative opinion has no concrete content, and since the other party is asking for an improvement in the relationship, things will probably get better. It's just a matter of trying to get along because we're neighboring countries.
The wait-and-see theory is based on the points of the Korean unified local elections in June and the national election in 2024, and that the Democratic Party (a pro-China, anti-Japanese party) holds the majority of the Korean National Assembly.Twisted stateTherefore, unless the ruling party wins the power of the people in the 2024 general election, no bill will be passed, so nothing can be done. Until then, Japan should do nothing and wait and see.
The least I can say is that I don't expect Japan-Korea relations to deteriorate any further during the next five years of the next administration. Personally, I think that if things don't get any worse, there's no need for them to get any better. In other words, there is a necessary distance between Japan and South Korea. This may be the best distance relationship.
In the long run, it would be most effective if the speech of pro-Japanese groups was liberated, rather than if the anti-Japanese movement subsided on the surface. In addition to those who prefer Japanese culture in South Korea, pro-Japanese speech is another form of speech that has been suppressed regarding the annexation of Japan and South Korea and Japan's support for South Korea after the war. Japan has no choice but to wait for South Korea to change, but there is no sign of that happening at all. The appearance of calm on the surface is only a temporary phenomenon. The root of Japan-Korea relations lies within South Korea, where freedom of speech is not recognized regarding the past history of Japan and South Korea. It is impossible to publicly state the fact that the Korean Peninsula modernized under Japanese rule.
Under Japanese rule, slaves, who accounted for half of the population, were liberated, the class system was abolished, a school education system was established, food self-sufficiency increased, starvation deaths decreased sharply, sanitary conditions improved, and cholera and typhoid fever were reduced. The number of deaths due to such things has decreased dramatically. These are facts that do not exist in Korea.
In South Korea's historical perspective, those who affirmed Japanese rule were expelled from academia in order to make the history of being enslaved and violated by Japan into a fact. He was also expelled from politics and government, and media outlets were also blocked. This is an unobjective view of history that only accepts one opinion, and is not academic in the first place. At the root of Japan-Korea relations is this unilaterally created view of history and the education of history based on that view. Unless this changes, we can see that even if the government continues to work together as it has done in the past, it will crumble like a sandcastle. This is exactly what history has proven.
In other words, improving Japan-Korea relations means that South Korea itself will gain academic and speech freedom, that scholars who support Japanese rule will return to academia, that they will return to politics, and that South Korea will become a democratic country where people can have free discussions. . Without this, anti-Japanese education will never disappear. This is an issue that requires the process of South Korea maturing as a democratic country, so it will take a very long time. Therefore, Japan should continue to keep its distance and not approach them easily.
If we look at the past, we are skeptical that politics will improve Japan-Korea relations. This problem is that academic and freedom of speech have not been secured in South Korea in the history of Japan and South Korea.
Kim Koo and Moon Jae In Kim Koo went to North Korea to oppose trust rule and advocate reunification and independence of the two Koreas, but Kim Il Sung did not seem to deal with him.It was also abandoned by the United States.Moon Jae In is very similar.Moon Jae In names Kim Gu as the most respected politician.Do you mean that the right and left sides of Korea are Lee Seung-man and Kim Gu?Either way, they are anti-Japanese.
The president Moon Jae In's last resistance to the relocation of the president's office.cloud over election pledges.
They seem to be at odds over the relocation of the presidential office in South Korea.Yoon Seok-yeol, who is scheduled to become the next president in the presidential election, will not work at Cheong Wa Dae.He promised to relocate.The current Moon Jae In administration has made moving stop.Specifically, the government was about to start the relocation work after obtaining approval for the reserve fund expenditure at a Cabinet meeting scheduled for March 22, but it seems that it is not possible to obtain the reserve fund budget.The current presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, "It is impossible to move the presidential office before the new administration takes office."Yoon Seok-yeol said, "If Moon Jae In refuses to cooperate on the most representative transition tasks, there is no way to enforce them."
Yoon Seok-yeol and the party "the power of the people" expressed their anger at President Moon, who said they could not agree to move the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff due to security instability."The situation in which the president cannot enter the office and cannot be properly guarded will cause the security crisis of the Republic of Korea. Cheong Wa Dae's refusal to compile a budget on the grounds of a security vacuum is nothing more than a hindrance to the inauguration of the new government."
After all, it seems that the plan to relocate Cheong Wa Dae on May 10, when the administration takes office, was unreasonable.Moon Jae In The administration seems to say that it is impossible to transfer security and Cheong Wa Dae functions by that date, and whether it is correct or not, the relocation of Cheong Wa Dae should have been done at the right time after taking office.In other words, the first item in the election pledge has already been nullified by the ruling party.At least where the presidential office is held is not a matter, and it seems to be nothing more than a dispute that lacks substance.
Mr. Yoon Seok-yeol also seems to have been a bit slow to read.The current president is a Democrat with 58 percent of the seats in the National Assembly.I don't think I can get their help.