Abe Seen Maintaining Hard-Line Stance against S. Korea

September 15, 2019

Tokyo- The lineup of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new cabinet, inaugurated on Wednesday, suggests that the Japanese government plans to continue taking a hard-line stance against South Korea.

For the posts of foreign, defense and trade ministers, who cover areas of dispute with Seoul, Abe took measures, including shifting the role of Taro Kono from foreign minister to defense minister.

Abe plans to strongly urge South Korea to take concrete actions over court rulings that have ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to South Korean plaintiffs over wartime labor.

Japan's position is that the issue of war-related claims, including for wartime labor cases, was settled by a 1965 bilateral agreement.

During his time as foreign minister, Kono criticized South Korean Ambassador to Japan Nam Gwan-pyo as "extremely rude" during a meeting on the wartime labor issue.

When South Korea decided to abolish the General Security of Military Information Agreement, or GSOMIA, with Japan, Kono said that Seoul "misunderstood the regional security environment."

On Kono's appointment as defense minister, a high-ranking Japanese government official said that if Kono was excluded from the new cabinet, people may think that there had been a problem with how he handled the issues. Abe prioritized continuity in his diplomatic policies, the official noted.

Toshimitsu Motegi was chosen to be new foreign minister by Abe, who thinks highly of Motegi's abilities.

While indicating that Japanese diplomatic authorities will continue to be in contact with the South Korean side, Motegi said at a press conference on Friday that Tokyo will urge Seoul to resolve its current state of violating international law as soon as possible.

He thus emphasized that he will stand his ground against South Korea.

New trade minister Isshu Sugawara, who oversees export controls, is close to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

On the lineup of the three ministers, an official at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said the prime minister's office will likely continue to play a key role in Japan's policies toward South Korea.

South Korea announced on Wednesday that it has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Tokyo's tighter controls on exports of three semiconductor materials to the country.

Amid a deepened antagonism between Tokyo and Seoul, a Japanese government official said that South Korea must have braced itself after seeing the members of the new cabinet.

The cabinet lineup "serves as a message that (Japan) will not change its hard-line stance" against South Korea, the official added. Jiji Press