文 “You shouldn’t be caught up in the past of Korea and Japan”… Comfort women and forced drafts were eliminated.

President Moon Jae-in said on the 1st that “the cooperation between Korea and Japan will help both countries, stability and common prosperity in Northeast Asia, and will also help with the trilateral cooperation between Korea and the United States and Japan.” President Moon said at a ceremony to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the March 1st (Seoul Jongno Tapgol Park), saying, “We will not stop our efforts for cooperation and future development between Korea and Japan.”

In this commemorative address following the New Year’s press conference (January 18), President Moon reaffirmed the’two-track keynote’ that separates the past and future-oriented relations in relation to the route to Japan.

President Moon said, “The South Korean government will always seek wise solutions from the standpoint of victim-centeredness,” and said, “We will do our best to restore the honor and dignity of the victims.” “There was an unfortunate history between Japan and us, and the perpetrator can forget it, but the victim cannot forget it,” he said.

However, President Moon said, “We cannot be held back by the past. We must focus more on future-oriented development while solving the past problems according to the past problems.” This is a statement that focuses more on the latter of the issues of past history and improvement of Korea-Japan relations.

In fact, in the 8,000-word commemorative address, the part directly related to Korea-Japan diplomacy was only about 1,400 characters. Direct mentions of the comfort women issue, which Japan has responded extremely sensitively, as well as the court’s judgment of compensation for forced labor workers, have also been omitted.

This is interpreted as an extension of the appeasement policy toward Japan, which is being materialized in conjunction with the inauguration of the US administration, which is calling for the restoration of Korea-Japan relations. President Moon said at a New Year’s press conference that it was “perplexing” about the judgment of compensation, and also said, “I admit that it was an official agreement of the government” about the comfort women agreement, which has always pointed out procedural flaws.

These changes are in stark contrast compared to the past 3/1 memorial.

In his first March 1 commemorative remark after taking office in 2018, President Moon defined the comfort women issue as a’anti-human rights crime’ and emphasized that “the Japanese government, the perpetrator, should not say that it is’over”. Regarding this, Suga Yoshihide, then the Minister of the Interior (currently Prime Minister), said, “It is very regrettable that it is contrary to the 2015 Korea-Japan comfort women agreement.” In 2019, he said, “When we actually heal the pain of (comfort women) victims, Korea and Japan will become real friends with whom we can connect.” The position of taking Japan’s apology as a premise for improving relations is, “If we can face the past, we can overcome the wounds and move on to the future. I hope that Japan will have such an attitude.” It continued to a commemorative address last year.

President Moon also used the expression “directly” this year. President Moon said, “We must learn lessons while facing the history of the past. It is not a shame to learn lessons from past mistakes, but rather, it is a way to be respected in the international community.” “The only hurdle we have to overcome is that sometimes the problems of the past cannot be separated from the problems of the future, but mixed together, which impedes future development.”

However, the subject of both sentences is’we’, not’Japan’. It is an expression that emphasizes the joint efforts to improve relations between Korea and Japan, not Japan’s one-sided apology.

In particular, President Moon said, “The two countries have become very important neighbors to each other in all areas, including economy, culture, and people-to-people exchanges.” He said, “Over the past decades, Korea and Japan have improved their competitiveness together based on a sort of division of labor.” I will continue to do so in the future.”

President Moon cited the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to be held in July, as a medium to restore cooperation between Korea and Japan.

He said, “The Tokyo Olympics, which will be held this year, may be an opportunity for dialogue between Korea and Japan, South and North Korea, North Korea and Japan, and North Korea and the United States,” he said. “Korea will cooperate for the successful hosting of the Tokyo Olympics.” He added, “I hope that both Korea and Japan will be able to recover the economy hit by the corona and create a new order in the post-corona era through stronger cooperation.”

President Moon said, “Our government is always ready to sit face to face with the Japanese government to have a conversation.” Said.

President Moon also requested Japan’s role in resolving the Korean Peninsula problem. “Last December, we launched a Northeast Asian quarantine and health cooperation body with the United States, China, Russia, and Mongolia,” he said. “Japan is also considering participation, and we look forward to North Korea as well.” President Moon continued, “I hope that North Korea will cooperate and exchange with the countries in the region, starting with the participation in the Northeast Asian quarantine and health cooperation organization. The plan is to use a quarantine cooperation body in which all countries in the region participate as a clue to the progress of inter-Korean relations.

Regarding North Korea, he said, “We will continue to strive for denuclearization and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. We will continue to develop inter-Korean relations based on the three principles of non-warfare, mutual security, and common prosperity.”

Meanwhile, President Moon devoted a large portion of the commemorative message to corona prevention and vaccination. President Moon said, “The fight against the corona is also nearing an end.” .

Reporter Kang Tae-hwa [email protected]