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| President Moon Jae-in with a stern look on his face presides over a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung, Kim Yoo-chul
This week will be crucial for both South Korea and Japan as the feud between the two countries continues after working-level talks over Japan's export controls ended without results.
July 18 is the deadline for South Korea to decide whether to accept Japan's request to refer their history-related dispute to an international arbitration panel.
Political experts and observers in Seoul believe the ongoing tech trade conflict between Seoul and Tokyo is about South Korea's outrage at Japan's forceful use of laborers during World War II.
South Korea's highest court ruled that Japan's top steel manufacturer, Nippon Steel, used forced labor during the war and ordered the company to compensate South Korean survivors with about $89,000 each. A similar case against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other cases are being heard in the country's lower courts. Japan argued all monetary settlements were settled through a 1965 accord when the two countries agreed to establish diplomatic relations.
Regarding the rulings, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned Seoul that it would apply "retaliatory actions" against South Korea if Seoul enforced the rulings. Recently, Japan accused a South Korean naval ship of using its radar to lock in on a Japanese plane. The Japanese aircraft conducted a low-altitude flight over the vessel, which Seoul claimed it considered menacing.
Following the highest court ruling, Tokyo has since demanded Seoul come to a deal via an outside arbitration committee. Experts here said Japan is highly likely to apply additional discriminatory measures against South Korea if Seoul fails to respond to its request by the upcoming deadline. Japan is said to be considering suspending the issuance of visas to Korean nationals or implementing import curbs on Korean agriculture products.
"The Foreign Ministry is closely monitoring possible developments from different angles and on multiple fronts," a foreign ministry official said in a background briefing in Seoul, Monday afternoon.
Beginning on July 4, Japan has implemented controls on the export to South Korea of three chemicals that are used to make semiconductors and flat screens.
Given the complicated situation, some experts here have urged the Korean government to take an active role in ending the dispute.
With the feud showing no signs of abating following the court ruling, President Moon Jae-in said his administration offered to launch a joint fund between companies from Korea and Japan. Tokyo, however, flatly rejected the proposal.
Seoul has no plans to respond to the Japanese proposal over the establishment of the third-party panel. Rather, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has decided that it will take up the South Korea-Japan dispute. However, the WTO's mediation could require at least a year or more to go through the settlement process.
Now, as Tokyo is showing little sign of coming to terms with Seoul over the dispute, the Korean government is seeking to ask for the United States to mediate the dispute. Washington remained supportive over South Korea's position on the dispute. Its top diplomat for Asia David Stilwell denied possibilities that the United States will take an active role in defusing the fight between its two key East Asian allies.
"Seoul does not want to aggravate the current situation, so we have requested Washington to engage in the dispute to prevent Tokyo from worsening the status quo," said a foreign ministry official who returned from a recent trip to Washington for meetings with U.S. officials.
Stilwell plans to hold a tea meeting with Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, July 17, at the ministry's headquarters in downtown Seoul after holding two separate meetings with other government officials. Stilwell plans to visit Cheong Wa Dae on that day.
