America’s pressure paid off. The President of South Korea is on a two-day visit to Japan on 16 and 17 March. During this, some important agendas like economic cooperation are expected to be discussed in both the countries.
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Japan and South Korea have taken one step forward to remove their old enmity and tension. and why is that South Korea president of Yoon Suk Yeol Traveling to Japan on Thursday, the purpose of which is to end all the disputes between the two countries that have been going on for many decades and to remove mutual distances. It is understood that during this time both the countries can take some big decisions.
According to the information, this is a two-day visit of the President of South Korea. During this, some important things like sharing of intelligence to economic cooperation between the two countries will be on the agenda. It is understood that under the pressure of America, both the countries are moving ahead for bilateral talks. This is expected to end regional unrest.
Know what are those big issues, due to which there is tension between Japan and South Korea for years: –
- Koreans have accused Japan of forcing women to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military. At the same time, Japan has been saying that under the 1965 treaty, it was decided to provide financial assistance to South Korea as compensation for forced labor.
- In 2015, South Korea and Japan reached an agreement under which Tokyo made an official apology to women who say they were enslaved in wartime brothels. And an amount of 1 billion yen i.e. 9.23 million dollars was given to help the victims.
- However, the then South Korean President Moon Jae-in terminated the agreement in 2018 and refused to accept the aid. He said this was not enough to consider the concerns of the victims.
- In 2018, South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered Japan’s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (5401.T) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (7011.T) to compensate some wartime forced labourers. But Tokyo warned of serious consequences against it.
- Relations deteriorated further in 2019 when Japan banned the export of high-tech materials to South Korea. At that time, Seoul threatened to break the intelligence sharing agreement with Tokyo. But he backed down under US pressure. After which both went ahead to improve the relationship.
- Last week, the Yun administration proposed setting up a public foundation to compensate plaintiffs in the Nippon Steel and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries cases. Tokyo and Washington welcomed the announcement, but the victims rejected the plan. After which South Korea and Japan talked about talks to lift the export ban.
- In previous years, some South Koreans boycotted Japanese products and canceled holidays in the country. Seoul has regularly filed complaints about the writing of history in some Japanese textbooks. In fact, Tokyo has accused the leaders of South Korea of increasing tension to take political advantage.
- There is also a dispute between the two countries over a group of volcanic islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan. The island is controlled by Seoul with a small contingent of Coast Guard personnel, but is also claimed by Tokyo.
- The US has pressed the two countries to resolve the disputes to better counter rising threats from China and North Korea, among other regional challenges. After which South Korea resumed trilateral military exercises and agreed to share more intelligence on things like tracking ballistic missile launches from North Korea.