The leader of South Korea's main opposition, Lee Jun-seok, said Tuesday that if the conservative party's nominee Yoon Seok-youl wins the March presidential election, he will work with him to prioritize solving thorny issues with Japan, including wartime labor compensation.
In an interview in Seoul just days after the former prosecutor general became the People Power Party's standard bearer, Lee emphasized the need to explain to the South Korean public early during Yoon's presidency that sensitive historical issues involving Japan should be handled through diplomacy.
Ties between the two countries sharply deteriorated after South Korea's top court in 2018 ordered Japanese firms to compensate South Korean plaintiffs over forced work for them during World War II. This came on top of already frayed ties over the issue of "comfort women" who were forced or coerced into Japan’s military brothel system before and during World War II.