The Central Election Management Committee of South Korea held a plenary session on the morning of April 4th, officially confirming that Lee Jae-myung, the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, was elected as the 21st President of South Korea. Lee Jae-myung immediately began his presidential term. The reformist camp has defeated the conservative camp and regained power after three years. [Image: https://p26-sign.toutiaoimg.com/tos-cn-i-axegupay5k/5b084a7b5c9c4b258963f1dd75f48f2a~tplv-tt-origin-web:gif.jpeg?_iz=58558&from=article.pc_detail&lk3s=953192f4&x-expires=1750082579&x-signature=LzRN8qnE7zHf7u0N0cNM7SpHaYY%3D] At his first press conference after taking office, Lee Jae-myung emphasized cooperation with Japan in areas such as security and cultural exchanges. Regarding the "forced laborer" issue for which a solution was proposed by the previous government, he stated that policy consistency is very important. Former President Yoon Suk-yeol had an understanding attitude towards Japan, promoting the strengthening of Japan-South Korea relations. However, the establishment of the Lee Jae-myung government led some Japanese media to report that he would "return to anti-Japan." Both Japanese political and economic circles have great concerns and doubts about the Japan-South Korea relations after Lee Jae-myung takes office. Before taking office, Lee Jae-myung criticized the former President Yoon Suk-yeol's government as "pro-Japanese surrender." Japan first feared that the historical disputes between Japan and South Korea would reignite. On May 28th, Lee Jae-myung clearly stated that after assuming office, he will promote listing the Japanese military comfort women records under UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. The presidential election platform released by the Democratic Party Central Election Strategy Committee on the same day proposed this as a core campaign commitment. The Democratic Party stated that they will "promote listing the Japanese military comfort women records under UNESCO's World Memory Heritage." It was pointed out that the future government will support at the official level the comfort women record heritage application activities led by civilian social groups. The Democratic Party also promised to establish a "Women's Human Rights and Peace Foundation" to promote research and resolution of the comfort women issue. During the presidency of former President Park Geun-hye of the conservative party New National Party from December 2015, Japan and South Korea reached an agreement on the issue of WWII sex slaves - comfort women. Japan expressed "sincere regret" and set up a 1 billion yen fund to help South Korean comfort women, thus resolving the decades-long controversy between the two countries on this issue. South Korea also promised to remove the comfort woman statue set up in front of the Japanese consulate. During President Moon Jae-in's term when he represented the reformist Democratic Party, he stated that the comfort women agreement signed by the Park Geun-hye government must be abolished. The South Korean government intended to renegotiate and agreed to place a symbolic statue representing the South Korean comfort women issue in front of the Japanese Consulate General in Busan. On November 21, 2018, the Moon Jae-in government announced the dissolution of the "Healing and Reconciliation Foundation" established according to the Japan-Korea Comfort Women Agreement, causing high tension in Japan-South Korea relations. Another issue is the wartime labor compensation problem. South Korean courts have continuously ruled that Japanese enterprises should compensate for the original Korean laborers forcibly recruited by Japan during wartime. They have also seized Japanese company assets for auction. After conservative party National Power Party's Yoon Suk-yeol was elected president and aimed to improve Japan-South Korea relations, he addressed this issue. In March 2023, Japan and South Korea reached a historic reconciliation, resolving the litigation issue regarding the wartime forced recruitment of former Korean Peninsula laborers. The solution announced by the South Korean government on March 6, 2023, was that the "Imperial Japan Forced Recruitment Victims Support Foundation" under the South Korean government would compensate the South Korean plaintiffs on behalf of the defendant Japanese companies. On March 15, 2023, Yoon Suk-yeol, during his visit to Japan, responded in writing to questions from Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, and Nihon Keizai Shimbun, stating: "This is the result of efforts to simultaneously meet the political and diplomatic agreements at the time of normalization of diplomatic relations in 1965 and the judicial interpretation of the highest court in South Korea." He mentioned that he considered the Japanese government's position that the 1965 Japan-Korea Request Rights Agreement had already resolved the issue of compensation for the originally forcibly recruited laborers. He said: "I hope that the Japanese side will continue the historical recognition of past cabinets with the idea of building a future-oriented Japan-Korea relationship." He did not expect a new apology but hoped for concrete actions based on the statements of past cabinet declarations. In the past presidents of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), such as Sadakazu Sakakibara of Toray Industries (term 2014-2018) and Masayoshi Tenkawa of Sumitomo Chemical (2021-2025), who were from enterprises closely related to South Korea, have been promoting the improvement of Japan-South Korea relations in the economic field. Regarding the issue of former "forced laborers" (originally laborers from the Korean Peninsula), Keidanren established a fund worth hundreds of millions of yen with South Korean economic organizations in 2023, playing a significant role in solving the issue. However, at that time, as the leader of the largest opposition party, Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Jae-myung strongly criticized the solution to this issue. According to a report by South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo on March 6, 2023, Lee Jae-myung quickly criticized it, calling it "the greatest disgrace and stain in diplomatic history," and condemned that "the Yoon Suk-yeol government ultimately chose the path of betraying historical justice." The Japanese business community generally believes that left-wing regimes like Lee Jae-myung lack personal connections with Japan. If political opposition over territorial issues or security issues rekindles, the already unstable economic relationship between Japan and South Korea may regress. Apart from historical issues, Lee Jae-myung has consistently held an anti-Japan stance on other issues. In the past, Lee Jae-myung criticized: "Japan is an enemy country." On November 14, 2016, during President Park Geun-hye's term, Lee Jae-myung posted on Facebook criticizing the signing of the Korea-Japan Intelligence Protection Agreement between the two countries. He stated that Japan had once invaded the Korean Peninsula and constantly provoked the Dokdo issue. Japan is actually South Korea's enemy country. If Park Geun-hye signs the agreement and provides unlimited intelligence to Japan, then she is not our president but a Japanese spy. Regarding the issue of Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant discharging treated water, Lee Jae-myung criticized the then Yoon Suk-yeol government's support and defense of Japan's plan to discharge treated water into the sea. On August 26, 2023, thousands of protesters gathered in Seoul, South Korea, to protest Japan's plan to start discharging treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant on August 24. At the rally, Lee Jae-myung, as the leader of the largest opposition party, Democratic Party of Korea, said: "Japan has crossed an insurmountable line." The launch of the discharge of contaminated water is "declaring war on the Pacific coastal countries." "Japan should apologize to the nearest country, South Korea, as South Korea is the most severely affected country." Japan also considers Lee Jae-myung a pro-North Korea politician. On June 4, at the beginning of his presidency, Lee Jae-myung promised to restart "dialogues" with Pyongyang and improve relations with North Korea. Japan worries that after Lee Jae-myung takes office, the Northeast Asia strategic framework of joint resistance by Japan, the United States, and South Korea against neighboring China, Russia, and North Korea will be shaken. In recent years, whenever a reformist president takes office in South Korea, Japan-South Korea relations are always greatly impacted. Japan's various sectors are concerned that Lee Jae-myung's accession to power will again cause extreme cooling of Japan-South Korea relations. Former Deputy Minister of Defense and member of the House of Representatives of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Takeshi Watanabe, said in an interview with Sankei Shimbun on June 4: "We can only hope he does not destroy the track laid by the former president. If historical issues are rekindled and anti-Japan movements are stimulated, another wall will be built. We can only hope that nightmares where negotiations are overturned even after being carried out do not recur." (Sankei Shimbun, June 4, "Concerns about the new South Korean president raising old issues: 'Do not use anti-Japan sentiment to convey correct history to children'") Japanese Reform Association member of the House of Representatives, Kazuyu Ichida, also stated: "He is someone who holds anti-Japan thoughts and leans toward North Korea. Although he says he will cooperate with Japan and the United States, this is probably not sincere. Can philosophy and thought really change so easily?" He expressed doubt. (Source same as above) Source: rfi Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7513919799202759218/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's views. You can express your attitude by clicking the "like/dislike" buttons below.