Ha Tae-kyung: "A 'Sunshine Policy' Toward Japan... We Must Form Semiconductor and Energy Alliances with Japan"

"Use Japan to Decouple from China"

Regarding our government's solution to the issue of Japan's forced labor, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the People Power Party, evaluated it as a 'Sunshine Policy toward Japan' and raised his voice for forming alliances with Japan in the semiconductor and energy sectors.

On the 7th, Ha said on MBC's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' program, "It is a kind of Kim Dae-jung-style Sunshine Policy toward Japan. It may not align with the feelings of our people, but in reality, it is difficult to realize an ideal plan," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He said, "When the Sunshine Policy toward North Korea was promoted, I also criticized it as a new approach, but I supported the general idea because we won the system competition," adding, "In Japan-Korea relations, if we take a Sunshine Policy approach, we first improve relations and then, in the mid to long term, correct Japan's distorted historical perception based on trust with the Japanese people."

He continued, "The current international situation does not allow us to fight both China and Japan at the same time," adding, "It is a situation where we need a kind of 'de-China-ization'."

He argued that Japan should be utilized for de-China-ization. He said, "Regarding relations with Japan, one reason we can confidently pursue a Sunshine Policy from a position of strength is that we have an advantage in the semiconductor industry," adding, "However, Japan still has strengths in materials and components, so the Korea-Japan Semiconductor Chip 4 talks are happening in the U.S., and since we are favorable to this, we need to promote something like a Korea-Japan semiconductor alliance."

Ha explained, "Semiconductors inevitably have to move out of China. Japan is not a perfect substitute, but while we also need to go to Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and some parts of Europe, Japan is geographically the closest and has a large market."

He also insisted that an alliance should be formed centered on the '7th Offshore Gas Field' in the Korea-Japan maritime boundary area in the energy sector. He said, "There is the 7th Offshore Gas Field issue, and as Korea-Japan relations worsen, Japan is trying to break up the joint committee," adding, "It is in our national interest, so there is a need for us to immediately operate joint committees like the Korea-Japan 7th Offshore Gas Field committee."

The U.S. welcomed our announcement of the forced labor solution, with President Biden evaluating it as a "new epochal chapter." This is also analyzed as reflecting the U.S. intention to elevate Korea-Japan relations beyond improvement to an alliance level. Regarding this, Ha said, "The U.S. wants to cooperate on the Korea-U.S.-Japan military alliance and economic cooperation in the anti-China front," adding, "However, from our standpoint, there is no reason to form a military alliance with Japan, but instead, we need to strengthen cooperation such as receiving information from Japan on North Korean missile trajectories that we cannot track ourselves through GSOMIA, cooperating on naval matters, and cooperating in joint maritime areas."