Yoon Sang-hyun: "Kishida's Visit to Korea Filled Half of Half a Glass"

Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, evaluated Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's visit to Korea by saying, "He filled half of half a glass of water."

On the 8th, Yoon said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "He did not fill half of the glass, but he did fill half of half, didn't he?" He added, "He himself probably has this program to take one step forward between the atmosphere of the Japanese political circles and the sentiment in Korea."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During this visit, Prime Minister Kishida declared the succession of the Kim Dae-jung-Obuchi Declaration but stopped short of expressing a direct apology, instead offering a personal expression of regret. Yoon said, "Honestly, I was hoping for a more progressive statement regarding the forced labor issue and past history," but he evaluated, "He expressed heartfelt sorrow for those who endured very harsh conditions and had very painful and sad experiences, so there was some progress."

Yoon interpreted the reason why Prime Minister Kishida did not make a clear apology as due to a 'fear of legal responsibility.' He said, "It seems he has a kind of unique anxiety," adding, "If he continues to reflect and apologize like this, it might be interpreted as an admission of legal responsibility. We estimate there are 210,000 victims of forced labor."

He continued, "Among those filing lawsuits, 15 have received rulings, and as far as I know, nearly 1,000 are currently in litigation," and added, "They tried to settle all postwar issues with the 1965 Korea-Japan Basic Treaty and Claims Agreement, but this issue has continued to shift toward an apology mode, raising concerns that the dam for resolving postwar forced labor issues might collapse."

Regarding Prime Minister Kishida's haste in visiting early, Yoon interpreted it as related to the 'Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) agreement.' He explained, "President Yoon Suk-yeol led the Washington Declaration on April 26, and in forming the Nuclear Consultative Group, Prime Minister Kishida must have been surprised to see this," adding, "Seeing it progress to this extent, there was probably an urgency to quickly join in."

Also, "President Biden will meet at the Hiroshima G7 Summit between May 19 and 20. On the 21st, there will be a trilateral summit among Korea, the U.S., and Japan," he said, "The Biden administration likely wanted rapid progress in improving Korea-Japan relations to produce results at that time."