The pandemic has been going on for so long that international affairs observers nearly forgot that two of America’s closest allies in one of the most consequential regions in the world have been locked in a bitter dispute since 2018.
South Korea believes that its citizens who were victims of forced labor under Japanese occupation between 1910 and 1945 have the right to pursue legal cases against private companies that exploited their bodies. Japan believes that they do not have such rights. And both countries have been exchanging barbs that did not fully dissipate with the outbreak of COVID-19.
Indeed, things might actually get worse in the coming months. On June 1, South Korean courts secured legal grounds to liquidate assets of Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel that are held in South Korea - and use them to compensate forced labor victims. The seized assets are not a lot of money for a conglomerate like Nippon Steel - approximately USD 330,000. But what is on the line is not money, but historical narrative.
Our guest today is University of Connecticut Professor Alexis Dudden who is the author of the fantastic book on this very subject titled “Troubled Apologies Among Japan, Korea, and the United States.” She joins KEI Vice President Mark Tokola for a timely conversation that highlights how these tensions are rising at a particularly bad moment in international relations - and why controversies over history between Korea and Japan are so difficult to address in the context of the respective countries’ domestic politics.
You can find Dr. Dudden's book here: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/troubled-apologies-among-japan-korea-and-the-united-states/9780231141765
And you can sign up for KEI's weekly newsletter here: https://share.hsforms.com/1WiX_to9IRh-DlnV68MV0sg2ztzy
Discussion with North Korean Defectors
Talking Trilateral: U.S.-South Korea-Japan Relations
President Moon Jae-In Takes Office in Seoul
Addressing Continuity in South Korean Foreign Policy
North Korea Sanctions: The View from South Korea
[Rebroadcast] Examining the Korean Economy
South Korea's Growing Role in Myanmar
Korean American Day 2017: Chemical Engineer Dr. Kook-wha Koh
An American Executive in a Korean Chaebol
The Chinese Perspective on THAAD
Can Information Really Pry Open North Korea?
New Silk Road? Korea in China's One Belt, One Road Initiative
[Rebroadcast] The Kim Monarchy: Reframing Political Legitimacy in North Korea
Documenting Human Rights in North Korea
The Tearful Reunion Myth: Exploring Challenges Korean Adoptees Face While Searching for Their Birth Families
Using Information to Reduce the North Korean Threat
Korean American Day 2017: Exploring Space with Dr. David Oh
U.S. Forces Korea: The Big Move to Camp Humphreys
2017 on the Korean Peninsula
Will UN Sanctions Finally Stop North Korea?
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