South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has reinstated preferred trade status with Japan as the two countries try to move past some difficult history and recent trade disputes. The history stems from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945 during which Japan used forced labor and committed other atrocities. Yoon emphasized that despite a difficult past, the two countries should cooperate in light of the threat posed by China and North Korea. But Yoon’s willingness to use local funds to satisfy a 2018 Korean court ruling requiring two Japanese companies to compensate Koreans used as forced labor is unpopular, with 60% of Koreans opposing. Japan has steadfastly held that questions of compensation were settled when the two countries normalized relations in 1965.
