Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea

The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea (Japanese: 日韓基本条約 (Nikkan Kihon Jōyaku^?); Korean: 한일기본조약, 韓日基本條約, Hanil Gibon Joyak) was signed on June 22, 1965 to establish basic relationship between Japan and the Republic of Korea (South Korea).^[1]

History

In his 1974 Nobel Peace Prize lecture, Eisaku Sato explicitly mentioned the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea. He described "the guiding spirit of equality and mutual advantage and the realistic approach of seeking to establish friendship with close neighbors" as significant aspects of the extended negotiations which produced this bilateral agreement.^[2]

Treaty provisions

This diplomatic agreement established "normal" diplomatic relations between two East Asian neighbors. The original documents of this agreement are kept respectively by Japan and Korea.

Recision

The 1965 Treaty of Basic Relations between Japan and South Korea also declared that:

It is confirmed that all treaties or agreements concluded between the Empire of Japan and the Empire of Korea on or before August 22, 1910 are already null and void.^[3]

Language

The treaty is drafted using English, Japanese, and Korean, and each are considered authentic. In case of and "divergence of interpretation," the English language version shall be deemed authoritative and prevailing.^[4]

Compensation

In January 2005, the South Korean government disclosed 1,200 pages of diplomatic documents that recorded the proceeding of the treaty. The documents, kept secret for 40 years, recorded that South Korea agreed to demand no compensations, either at the government or individual level, after receiving $800 million in grants and soft loans from Japan as compensation for its 1910–45 colonial rule in the treaty.^[5]

The documents also recorded that the Korean government demanded a total of 364 million dollars in compensation for the 1.03 million Koreans conscripted into the workforce and the military during the colonial period,^[6] at a rate of 200 dollars per survivor, 1,650 dollars per death and 2,000 dollars per injured person.^[7] However, the South Korean government used most of the grants for economic development,^[8] failing to provide adequate compensation to victims by paying only 300,000 won per death in compensating victims of forced labor between 1975 and 1977.^[9] Instead, the government spent most of the money establishing social infrastructures, founding POSCO, building Gyeongbu Expressway and the Soyang Dam with the technology transfer from Japanese companies.^[10]

The documents also reveals that the South Korean government claimed that it would handle individual compensation to its citizens who suffered during Japan's colonial rule while rejecting Japan's proposal to directly compensate individual victims and receiving the whole amount of grants on the behalf of victims.^[11][12]

As the result, there have been growing calls for the government to compensate the victims since the disclosure of the documents. A survey conducted shortly after the disclosure showed that more than 70 percent of Korean people believe the South Korean government should bear responsibility to pay for those victims (ibid.). The South Korean government announced that it will establish a team to deal with the appeals for compensation, although "It has been the government's position that compensation for losses during the Japanese occupation has already been settled".^[13]

Japanese officials had reportedly not been in favor of the South Korean government disclosing the documents because they were concerned about repercussions the disclosure of such diplomatic documents would have on bilateral normalizations talks with North Korea, who reportedly wants more than $10 billion as compensation for its share.^[14] Japan has generally refused to pay damages to individuals, saying it settled the issue on a government-to-government basis under the 1965 agreement.

See also

• Unequal treaties

Notes

1. ^ Oda, Shigeru. "The Normalization of Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea," The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 61, No. 1 (Jan., 1967), pp. 35-56.
2. ^ Nobel Peace Prize, Eisaku Sato, Nobel laureate lecture, "The Pursuit of Peace and Japan in the Nuclear Age," December 11, 1974.
3. ^ Hook, Glenn D. (2001). Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics, and Security, p. 491. at Google Books
4. ^ Hook, p. 492. at Google Books
5. ^ "S. Korea discloses sensitive documents," UPI January 17, 2005
6. ^ "Declassified Documents Could Trigger Avalanche of Lawsuits," Chosun Ilbo January 17, 2005
7. ^ "Seoul Demanded $364 Million for Japan's Victims Updated," Chosun Ilbo January 17, 2005
8. ^ "Seoul ready to launch panel on Korean victims of colonial rule," Koreaherald February 11, 2005
9. ^ "Seoul Demanded $364 Million for Japan's Victims Updated," Chosun Ilbo January 17, 2005
10. ^ Jong sik Kong Korea Was Most Efficient in Utilizing Japanese Reparation, Dong-a Ilbo, JANUARY 19, 2005.
11. ^ Documents show Seoul agreed to compensate its citizens over Japan's colonial rule Mainichi January 17, 2005
12. ^ "Compensation for Colonial Victims Is Not Just a Legal Problem," Chosun Ilbo January 17, 2005
13. ^ "Declassified Documents Could Trigger Avalanche of Lawsuits," Chosun Ilbo January 17, 2005
14. ^ "Documents show Seoul agreed to compensate its citizens over Japan's colonial rule," Mainichi January 17, 2005

References

• Hook, Glenn D. (2001). Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics, and Security. London: Routledge. 10-ISBN 0415240972/13-ISBN 9780415240970; 10-ISBN 0415240980/13-ISBN 9780415240987; OCLC 45583501
• Lundqvist,Stig et al. (1997). Nobel Lectures, including Presentation Speeches and Laureates' Biographies. 1971-1980. Singapore: World Scientific. 13-ISBN 9810207263/10-ISBN 9789810207267; 13-ISBN 9810207271/ 10-ISBN 9789810207274; OCLC 186564406

External links

• Wikisource, Treaty text in English; Japanese; Korean
• Wikisource, Agreement Between Japan and the Republic of Korea Concerning Fisheries
• Wikisource, Agreement Between Japan and the Republic of Korea Concerning the Settlement of Problems in Regard to Property and Claims and Economic Cooperation
• WIkisource, Agreement Between Japan and the Republic of Korea Concerning the Legal Status and Treatment of the People of the Republic of Korea Residing in Japan