Regarding the agreement between Korea and Japan on the issue of compensation for victims of forced labor of Koreans during the Japanese colonial period, the argument has been raised in the United States that the United States should not forcibly seek to improve relations between South Korea and Japan.
Attorney Nathan Park (Korean name Park Sang-yoon) said in an article titled “The South Korea-Japan Forced Labor Deal Is a Shambles” published in the US diplomatic magazine Foreign Policy (FP) on the 27th (local time). is still repeating the mistake of wanting unilateral concessions from South Korea and demanding nothing from Japan,” he said. “South Korea’s unilateral concessions could ruin the agreement later.”
Attorney Park, a non-executive researcher at the Quincy Institute (QIRS), a think tank that studies US foreign policy, said, “As China emerges as a major competitor to the US, (US) ‘logic of a quick solution’ is returning.” ) South Korean (conscription) victims are being ignored in the name of noble real politics.”
He pointed out that this “quick resolution logic” also worked at the time of the 2015 agreement on comfort women victims between Korea and Japan. At the time, the Barack Obama administration was known to have strongly pushed for improvement in South Korea-Japan relations in order to strengthen cooperation between the ROK-US-Japan alliance in the face of the rise of China. He insisted, “(Interfering in the negotiations between Korea and Japan at the time) was a mistake by the United States, and as a result, it was a deal that neither Korea nor Japan wanted.”
“The United States is repeating ‘mistakes of the past’ in managing relations with its two most important allies in East Asia,” he said. The mistake of the past he says is that when the Soviet Union expanded its influence in the world with communism at the forefront after World War II, it gave up most of the punishment for Japanese war criminals in order to use Japan as a ‘breakwater for the Cold War’.
It is interpreted that the forced labor compensation solution also forced South Korea to make concessions in order to solidify the ROK-US-Japan security alliance to keep China in check.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.