China News Network, March 3 -- Recently, relations between South Korea and Japan have ushered in a sharp recovery. However, a remark from Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi brought the deep-rooted contradictions between the two countries to the surface again.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Lin Fangzheng recently made a remark at the meeting of the Security Committee of the Japanese House of Representatives about "Japan has not forcibly recruited Korean workers". In response, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said that the South Korean government has protested through diplomatic channels and expressed regret.

Citizens' groups protest the South Korean government's settlement of World War II labor claims in Seoul, South Korea, March 3.

On March 3, Park Jin said before a meeting of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Unification Committee that as far as he knew, Lin Fangzheng's remarks meant that there was no "forced labor" in the relevant treaty. This may be Japan's narrow legal understanding, which the South Korean side will never understand and will not accept.

Asked how Japan responded to the South Korean protest, Park said that he could not disclose the details here, but the matter was not unrelated to Japan's domestic politics.

Previously, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue actively promoted the thawing of South Korea-Japan relations, but the South Korean people did not buy it. On March 3, attending a ceremony marking the 1th anniversary of South Korea's March 104 Movement, Yoon Seok-hyeol said that "Japan has changed from a militarist aggressor to a partner in cooperation," sparking discontent among South Koreans.

Subsequently, the South Korean government announced a plan to compensate South Korean workers forcibly conscripted by Japan during World War II in the form of third-party compensation, which was protested by the people and criticized by many parties, saying that it was the result of "humiliating diplomacy and incompetent diplomacy".

Infographic: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) shakes hands with South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue (left) during the ASEAN Summit in November 2022.

On March 3, Yoon Seok-yue visited Japan to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Lee Jae-myung, leader of South Korea's largest opposition party, the United Democratic Party, bitterly criticized Yoon Seok-yue for ignoring domestic public opinion and "ultimately choosing to be Japan's servant."

At the same time, the aftermath of the South Korea-Japan summit, which has been criticized as "worst humiliating diplomacy," is spreading to all walks of life. On the 20th, 17 groups of professors and researchers, including the Korea University Policy Society and the National Professors' Union, said that "the worst diplomatic tragedy in history has occurred" and urged the government to withdraw the third-party compensation plan to solve the claim of Korean workers forcibly expropriated by Japan in World War II.

They believe that Yoon's "humiliating act of surrender" at the ROK-Japan summit is the result of the president's shallow understanding of the lessons of history, and that the third-party compensation scheme should be withdrawn immediately, and Yoon should specify his responsibility.

Recently, a number of polls showed that South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue's poor rating of governance exceeded 60%.