South Korean trade minister calls for ‘fresh look’ at Japan ties

South Korea and Japan should take a fresh look at their relations amid a rapidly changing global order, the top trade official in Seoul said, following the election of a new president, who is calling for a mending of ties.

“It’s high time to have a fresh look at bilateral relations and forge forward-looking, more constructive relations between Korea and Japan,” South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said in an interview Thursday. “It’s important to keep politics separate from economic and trade investment when we talk about multilateral trade platforms.”

Relations between the two Asian economic heavyweights remain strained over trade and historical disputes, and improving them may be among the top agenda items to be pursued by Yoon Suk-yeol, who was elected South Korean president after Wednesday’s vote.

Ties between the two countries deteriorated sharply in late 2018 after a series of South Korean court rulings ordered Japanese companies to pay damages for forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule. In 2019, Japan put in effect some export controls on key chipmaking materials shipped to South Korea, a move that some saw as retaliation.

Current President Moon Jae-in has said Tokyo needs to show proper contrition for its 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula while Japan said all matters of compensation were settled decades ago by an agreement between the neighbors.

The two sides exchanged protests as recently as last month over their views on Japan’s recent nomination of a mining site for the 2023 UNESCO World Heritage list. South Korea says wartime Korean labor was used at the site.

Still, repairing ties with Japan may be a necessary step if South Korea wants to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade zone as it requires unanimous approval by member nations.

“It is of both ROK and Japan’s interest to focus on the future rather than the past,” Yoon said, referring to the Republic of Korea’s formal name. “I will consider the future of (the) Korea-Japan relationship by having a forward-looking perspective for our youth and future generation.”