Yoon Japan policy

Japan's Kishida and South Korea's Yoon are ready to mend relations, but both leaders face problems back home.

The long unresolved forced labor dispute nears closure, with South Korea deciding to shoulder victim compensation through donations. 

The Yoon administration's plan to resolve forced labor disputes with Japan is already sparking controversy at home.

In his address to celebrate the 104th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, Yoon Suk-yeol said Japan has transformed into a partner sharing common values.

Ties between the two U.S. Asian allies have long been complicated by grievances related to Japan's brutal rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

The Yoon administration has expressed a strong willingness to improve bilateral ties with Japan, but Tokyo seems unwilling to budge on the central issues. 

Park Jin became the first South Korean foreign minister to visit Tokyo since 2019.

With a new consultative body to address forced labor issues, the Yoon administration is seeking to prevent the issues that scuttled the 2015 "comfort women" agreement.

A meeting between the leaders of Japan and South Korea has shown the issues that divide them, including North Korea.

New President Yoon Suk-yeol has been clear about his intentions. Putting rhetoric into practice will prove more difficult, but not impossible.