Japan worried about ties with S. Korea after Yoon’s ouster

Tokyo (Jiji Press) — Japan is worried that South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s removal from power will undo the improvements in bilateral relations made under his administration.

The importance of the relations between the East Asian neighbors is increasing amid drastic changes in the global situation, as marked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs.

The Japanese government will closely watch the South Korean presidential election to choose Yoon’s successor, which will be held within the next 60 days.

“Regardless of what will happen (at the election), close cooperation between Japan and South Korea is paramount,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a parliamentary committee meeting Friday regarding the South Korean Constitutional Court’s decision to oust Yoon the same day.

Ishiba vowed to work on the matter, putting priority on it.

The two countries’ ties hit rock bottom after South Korea’s Supreme Court in 2018 ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation for wartime labor provided by Koreans.

But the relations improved after Yoon, a conservative, took office in 2022. His government swiftly announced measures to resolve the thorny issue.

At a time when the security environment in East Asia is becoming increasingly dire, including military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, Ishiba has said that Japan-South Korean cooperation is “extremely important.”

With this year marking the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between Japan and South Korea, both governments have been keen to bolster bilateral ties.

Yoon’s ouster is “disappointing,” said a high-ranking member of the Japanese government.

The future of the bilateral relations hinges on the outcome of the South Korean presidential election.

After the 2017 ouster of then South Korean President Park Geun-hye, leftist Moon Jae-in took power. He sent the two countries’ ties to a fresh low by going back on their 2015 agreement that confirmed a final and irreversible resolution of the issue of so-called comfort women, who worked as prostitutes for Japanese troops before and during World War II.

With this memory still fresh in the minds of Japanese government people, Tokyo will watch the moves of conservative candidates closely while assessing statements relating to Japan from left-leaning Lee Jae-myung, who heads opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced so-called reciprocal tariffs, whose targets include U.S. allies such as Japan and South Korea.

“I believe South Korea can’t afford to do things that may lead to worse Japan-South Korea relations amid risks stemming from Trump,” a senior official of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

Emphasizing that Japan will not interfere in the domestic affairs of other nations, a Japanese government official said, “We have no choice but to watch what will happen in the South Korean election.”