Photo/Illutration South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (Provided by South Korean presidential office)

SEOUL--Now that Seoul has taken the first step, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol wants Japan to reciprocate to help resolve the thorny issue of compensation for wartime Korean laborers.

Yoon provided written responses to questions posed to him by The Asahi Shimbun, The Mainichi Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shimbun ahead of his first visit to Japan on March 16.

The visit is another sign of improving bilateral ties and was made possible in large part by Seoul’s announcement on March 6 of a plan to establish a foundation to provide compensation to the wartime laborers who sued Japanese companies.

Regarding the South Korean government plan, Yoon wrote, “We could not ignore a South Korea-Japan relationship that had become stagnant for such a long period so the South Korean government made a decision from the standpoint of national interest as well as for the South Korean people from a broad perspective.”

The Asahi asked about the 2015 agreement between Tokyo and Seoul to set up a foundation to provide support for former "comfort women," who were forced to provide sex before and during World War II to Japanese soldiers.

At that time, the two governments described the measure as a “final and irreversible resolution" of the contentious issue.

But after Moon Jae-in became South Korean president in 2017, implementation of the agreement effectively was halted and the Asahi question revolved around similar concerns about the resolution of the wartime laborer compensation issue.

Yoon wrote, “While striving to relieve the pain of the victims as quickly as possible, I am also confident that South Korean people will come to understand the efforts of their government to bring about a future-oriented South Korea-Japan relationship.”

Yoon also pointed to Tokyo’s reiteration of past statements regarding Japan’s colonial domination of the Korean Peninsula after the March 6 resolution announcement and added, "I hold expectations that Japan will take action appropriate” to such statements.

Yoon wrote that the two nations would have to cooperate to truly resolve the laborer compensation issue.

The South Korean government is hoping that Japanese companies will voluntarily make contributions to the foundation that will make payments to the laborers.

Such a move could improve the public's view of the Yoon administration as well as placate objections raised by some laborer plaintiffs who feel the government plan absolves Japanese companies of all responsibility.

Yoon also expressed expectations for mutual trips by himself and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the future, stressing that such visits would build a relationship of trust.

“I hope for an opportunity to make mutual visits and hold discussions whenever an issue arises (between South Korea and Japan),” Yoon responded.

Yoon was also asked about his administration’s approach to North Korea’s ballistic missile launches and nuclear weapons development.

He wrote that his government would use sanctions and pressure to push Pyongyang toward abandoning nuclear weapons development and to subsequently promote denuclearization through dialogue.

He added that to achieve those goals further deepening of cooperative efforts with not only the United States, but also with Japan would be required.

Yoon also expressed the hope that working-level talks between officials of the two nations would lead to the ending of stiffer export control measures implemented by Japan in the wake of the South Korean Supreme Court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to compensate wartime laborers.

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