Failed in Ratification

South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyong-wha announced in her press conference on Tuesday new policy over a bilateral agreement with Japan on comfort woman issue in 2015. While she denied future renegotiation with Japan, Kang offered ¥1 billion from the government to the supporting organization for comfort women as a compensation with the same amount of money Japan had offered, fundamentally overturning substance of the agreement. Japanese government strongly opposed that policy change. The thing is that South Korean government has failed in ratification of the agreement.

Receiving opinion from the investigation committee last month, new policy concluded that the agreement would not completely settle the problem, which had not appropriately reflected the will of those whom concerned. “Government of Republic of Korea will make every necessary effort for recovering honor and dignity of comfort women and healing their sentiment,” said the announcement.

New policy promised that the government would seek victim-oriented measures, to which opinion of victims, related organization and South Korean people would be reflected. On the offer of ¥1 billion from Japanese government, which Japan recognized as compensation of final settlement of the issue, Kang explained that South Korean government would appropriate for that and talk with Japanese government about the treatment of ¥1 billion from Japan.

While saying that ROK would not demand renegotiation over the comfort woman agreement, Kang expected Japan to recognize the truth along with international standard and to maintain their effort for restoring honor and dignity and healing the sentiment of the victims. “What the victims want is voluntary and true apology,” she told. Receiving internal pressure for abolishing the official agreement between the two governments, Moon Jae-in administration had to take strong position against Japan.

Even though the agreement had been made by ROK previous administration, Japanese government cannot accept the policy change at all. “The agreement was a promise between a nation and another,” told Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Kono,” and steady implementation is responsibility of both governments to international society.” Japanese government takes a position not changing the agreement by “even one millimeter.”

It sometimes occurs that one country cannot implement an outcome of diplomatic negotiation. That cannot be denied by President of United States who overturned an international agreement on free trade called Trans-Pacific Partnership. New policy of South Korea proved that the bilateral agreement could not be the one between the people of both nations.