South Korea's Yoon Seok-yeol, who worked hard to improve relations with Japan, has lost his job. What will happen to the friendly policy under the new government?

On the 4th of this month, the Constitutional Court of South Korea decided to impeach President Yoon Seok-yeol. As a result, a presidential election will be held within the next 60 days and a new president will be born.
Given that Yoon dramatically improved Japan-South Korea relations during his term in office, the Japanese government is closely watching the outcome of the presidential election, believing it will determine the future of Japan-South Korea relations.
Yoon declared "emergency martial law" for the country in December last year. Emergency martial law is a type of martial law stipulated in the Korean Constitution. In times of war or other emergency situations, military measures are in place.
The emergency martial law is issued by the president when necessary or to maintain public order. Although the emergency martial law was lifted early, it caused confusion in Korean society and led to instability in domestic politics.
The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Japan, have submitted a motion to impeach Yoon to the National Assembly, accusing him of violating the constitution by "attempting to suspend the constitutional order and committing an attempted civil war in an attempt to seize permanent power."
A vote was held, and the bill passed with 204 votes in favor and 85 against. As a result, Yoon was suspended from his duties. Following the passing of the bill, the Constitutional Court will decide within six months whether to dismiss Yoon or reinstate him.
The Constitutional Court held a total of 11 oral arguments from January to February 25th and conducted the hearing. On the morning of the 4th of this month, the Constitutional Court unanimously decided to approve Yoon's impeachment.
With Yoon no longer in office, a presidential election will be held within 60 days in accordance with the Public Offices Election Act. During his term in office, Yoon, who was impeached, had worked to improve Japan-Korea relations.
The issue of former forced labor lawsuits, which was the biggest concern across the country, had remained without any sign of a solution, but shortly after taking office, Yoon established a joint public-private council to find a solution.
In March 2023, the South Korean government announced a "solution" to this issue. The content of the solution was to suspend the establishment of the Japan-Imperial Forced Labor Relations Association, an organization under the South Korean government that supports former forced laborers.
The "Force Majestic Forces for Japanese Victims Support Foundation" will pay the plaintiffs the equivalent of compensation, including interest on late payments, on behalf of the defendants, Nippon Steel Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which were ordered by the Supreme Court to pay compensation to former forced laborers.
He also said that he would take similar measures in the ongoing lawsuits if the plaintiffs' victory is confirmed. When announcing the settlement, Yoon said, "Until now, the government has respected the position of the victims and promoted cooperation between Korea and Japan.
"This is the result of our search for a way to meet the interests and future development of the two countries," he emphasized. With this solution presented, Japan-Korea relations improved dramatically, and the "Shuttle Bus" system, where the leaders of Japan and Korea travel to each other's countries, was established.
"Two-way relations" have also been revived. Now, exchanges are active not only in the political world, but also in the business world and between the private sector. Yoon has also deepened cooperation not only with Japan, but also with Japan, the United States, and South Korea.
In the future, South Korea will hold a presidential election and a new leader will be born, but the Japanese government is concerned that the favorable relationship between Japan and South Korea will be shaken.
In the past, after the impeachment of then-President Park Geun-hye in 2017, the newly elected President Moon Jae-in overturned the comfort women agreement between Japan and South Korea, and then
This has led to a deterioration in relations between the two countries. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, who is leading the polls on who they think would be suitable to be the next president, said,
He is also said to be a "hardliner against Japan." The Sankei Shimbun reported that "the change of president may lead to a swing back to the anti-Japan stance of the Moon administration." The South Korean news agency Yonhap News also reported that
"In particular, if the opposition party takes power, there is a possibility that the 'third-party payment' method, in which a foundation under the South Korean government would shoulder the responsibility of paying compensation to forced labor victims, could be put on the table again," he said.
Following Yoon's impeachment, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba emphasized at the House of Representatives Cabinet Committee on the 4th that "No matter what government is in power, cooperation between Japan and South Korea is extremely important for peace and stability in the region."
On the same day, the Minister stated, "The Japanese government will refrain from commenting on the domestic affairs of other countries," and said of South Korea, "We are an important neighboring country with which we should cooperate as partners on various issues facing the international community."
" He emphasized that "the importance of Japan-Korea relations and Japan-U.S.-Korea cooperation remains unchanged. We will continue to communicate firmly with the South Korean side."
According to Yonhap News, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (equivalent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) announced on the 4th that it will send a Constitutional Court document to the embassies of various countries in South Korea.
Vice Minister Chung Byung-won also called Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Mizushima and expressed his intention to continue to communicate closely to further develop relations between the two countries.
While the future of Japan-Korea relations remains unclear, according to the Sankei Shimbun, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an interview with the newspaper, "South Korea is also prioritizing its response to the mutual tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, and is acting in an anti-Japanese manner."
There doesn't seem to be any room for maneuver," he said.