Chronologies
Japan - Korea
Chronology from May 2024 to Dec 2024
: South Korea and Japan hold a joint meeting of foreign affairs and defense officials to reaffirm the bilateral security cooperation.
: The Seoul Central District Court rules that Nippon Steel needs to pay 100 million Korean won ($71,740) each to two South Korean forced laborers. The same court also orders Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay 100 million Korean won ($71,740) to a South Korean forced laborer.
: South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul calls on Japan to hold a “sincere” memorial ceremony for Sado mine next year, after failing to agree on a joint event this year.
: South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Iwaya Takeshi agree to continue bilateral cooperation despite the Sado mine conflict at a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy.
: Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa voices regret that South Korea did not attend the Japan-led ceremony honoring forced laborers at Sado mine.
: South Korean government holds a separate ceremony for family members of Korean forced laborers at Sado mine.
: Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) hold the 13th leadership meeting in Osaka, Japan and agree to strengthen cooperation in energy, supply chains and advanced technologies.
: 400;">: Japan holds memorial ceremony for forced laborers at Sado mine without participation from the Korean side, who protested the participation by Japanese parliamentary vice minister Ikuina Akiko, who did not mention forced labor in her speech.
: South Korea announces it will not attend the Japan-led memorial ceremony for forced laborers at Sado mine.
: Japanese government announces that it will send Ikuina Akiko, the parliamentary vice minister at the foreign ministry to attend the memorial ceremony for Sado mine.
: The top air force commanders of Japan, South Korea and the United States hold the first trilateral meeting (via teleconference) to discuss cooperation, including on joint air exercises.
: Japan, South Korea, and the United States officially launches the secretariat for trilateral cooperation in Seoul, with a rotating secretary general every two years, starting with South Korea.
: The total number of air passengers between South Korea and Japan for the months of January to October 2024 exceeds 20 million, up 33 percent from a year earlier.
: South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul and Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Iwaya Takeshi meet on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru to discuss bilateral cooperation. This was their first meeting since Ishiba Shigeru became the new Japanese prime minister in October.
: Japan, South Korea, and the United States wrap up the second round of the trilateral, multidomain Freedom Edge military exercise. The exercise included various warships and aircraft, including the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, and F-35 stealth fighters from Korea and the US.
: Vice defense ministers from Japan and South Korea hold talks in Seoul to discuss cooperation on responding to North Korea-Russia military cooperation.
: Foreign ministers from 10 countries including Japan, South Korea, the United States plus the European Union release a joint statement expressing “grave concerns” over the North Korean troop deployment to Russia.
: Japan, South Korea and the United States hold a combined air drill with a B-1B bomber in response to a recent North Korean ICBM launch.
: Third and last surviving South Korean forced laborer accepts a government-led compensation package.
: National security advisors from Japan, South Korea, and the United States hold a trilateral meeting in Washington to discuss the North Korean troop deployment to Russia and express “grave concern.”
: South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok meets his new Japanese counterpart, Kato Katsunobu in Washington, DC on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting.
: Yang Geum-deok, a South Korean forced laborer and one of the 15 original plaintiffs that won the 2018 Supreme Court case, accepts the government-led compensation plan, making her the 12th person to accept the package.
: Japan, South Korea, and the United States issue a joint statement after their first trilateral meeting on North Korean human rights in Washington, DC.
: Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) co-host the 31st Korea-Japan Business Council in Seoul.
: South Korean first vice foreign minister Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese vice foreign minister Okano Masataka meet in Seoul to discuss bilateral cooperation and North Korea.
: South Korean foreign ministry voices “deep regret” over Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru’s ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine.
: 400;">: Japan, South Korea, and the United States launch a new joint multilateral mechanism to monitor North Korean sanctions called the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), comprising of 11 countries.
: South Korean Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun hold his first teleconference with his new Japanese counterpart Nakatani Gen.
: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru meet for the first time on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit Meeting in Laos and discuss ways to further elevate the bilateral relationship.
: Senior diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the United States discuss trilateral cooperation to counter the North Korean threat.
: South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul holds his first phone call with his new Japanese counterpart Iwaya Takeshi to discuss bilateral ties.
: South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul asks UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York to monitor Japan’s compliance on the Sado mine, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
: Foreign ministers of Japan, South Korea and the United States meet on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York to discuss trilateral cooperation, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling it “vital” despite political transitions in Japan and the US.
: Seoul Central District Court orders the North Korean government to pay 100 million Korean won ($74,700) each to five former Korean Japanese people who repatriated to North Korea as part of the “paradise on Earth” propaganda program.
: Nuclear envoys of Japan, South Korea and US discuss on the phone North Korea’s latest short-range missile launch.
: During the 15th Defense Trilateral Talks in Seoul, top defense officials from Japan, South Korea and the US agree to hold the second round of the trilateral, multidomain Freedom Edge military exercise in the near future.
: A former South Korean comfort woman passes away, leaving only eight officially registered surviving victims.
: During the third meeting of the Trilateral Diplomatic Working Group, diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the United States discuss sanctions and private industry efforts to deal with the North Korean cyber threat.
: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio meet in Seoul for the last time to discuss maintaining positive momentum in bilateral relations. This was the 12th and last summit meeting between the two leaders.
: Seoul High Court reverses a district court ruling and rules that Japan’s Nishimatsu Construction Co. need to pay 20 million Korean won ($15,000) to one of the five forced laborers, and 13 million won each to the four others.
: Seoul Central District Court rules that Japan’s Mitsubishi Materials Corp. have to compensate five South Korean forced laborers.
: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reaffirms that the trilateral security cooperation with Japan and US will continue despite leadership changes.
: The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court reverses a district court ruling and rules that Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. have to pay compensation of 100 million Korean won ($74,750) to four children of a deceased South Korean forced laborer.
: South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok meets new Japanese ambassador to South Korea Mizushima Koichi to discuss strengthening bilateral economic cooperation.
: Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and United States President Joe Biden issue a joint statement celebrating progress made in trilateral cooperation since the Camp David summit a year ago.
: South Korean foreign ministry voices “deep regret” over Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine.
: Top diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the United States discuss on the phone the need for China to “use its influence” with North Korea to stop its threat.
: South Korean foreign ministry says Japan refused to use the term “forced” in the museum exhibits for the Sado mine, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol names Park Cheol-hee, the head of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and a Japan expert as his new ambassador to Japan.
: Defense ministers of Japan, South Korea and the United States sign a Memorandum of Cooperation on the Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework, formalizing trilateral security cooperation.
: Japan’s Sado gold mine is officially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site after Japan and South Korea agree on conditions to reflect the “entire history.”
: The chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Japan, South Korea and the United States agree to expand the trilateral multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise during a meeting in Seoul, South Korea.
: South Korean foreign ministry asks Japan to drop its territorial claims to the disputed Dokdo/Takeshima islets after it was included in the 2024 defense white paper.
: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio meet on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, DC and agree to increase security cooperation with NATO to tackle the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
: South Korea and Japan hold the first director general-level defense meeting in Tokyo for the first time in nine years, since the last one in August 2015.
: Gwangju District Court rules that Japan’s Nippon Coke & Engineering have to pay compensation ranging from 13 million Korean won ($9,400) to 100 million Korean won to 11 family members of seven South Korean forced laborers.
: South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul meets new Japanese ambassador to South Korea Mizushima Koichi to discuss bilateral cooperation.
: South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Okano Masataka meet in Tokyo to reaffirm coordination on dealing with North Korea-Russia cooperation and improving trilateral cooperation.
: Japan, South Korea and the United States launch a trilateral ministerial industry-commerce meeting in Washington, DC to elevate economic cooperation on key technologies, supply chains and economic security issues.
: Japan, South Korea, and the United States hold the first ever, trilateral multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise.
: Top nuclear envoys of Japan, South Korea and the United States discuss on the phone coordination on North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch.
: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visits the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier participating in the first ever, trilateral multi-domain Freedom Edge exercise.
: South Korean and Japanese finance ministers meet for the 9th Korea-Japan finance dialogue in Seoul and agree to take “appropriate actions” against excessive currency volatility.
: Japan, South Korea, and the United States release a joint statement condemning the deepening North Korea-Russia military cooperation after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty during his visit to North Korea.
: Appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court reverses a district court ruling and rules that Japan’s Kumagai Gumi have to pay 100 million Korean won ($72,200) to the bereaved family of a South Korean forced laborer.
: Japan, South Korea, and the United States hold the fourth economic security dialogue in San Diego to discuss cooperation on supply chains and emerging technologies.
: South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-shik and his Japanese counterpart Kihara Minoru agree to prevent a repeat of a 2018 maritime incident over a Japanese patrol aircraft and South Korean warship on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
: South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Okano Masataka and US Deputy Secretary of State hold a trilateral meeting in Virgina to discuss the North Korean threat and efforts to create a trilateral secretariat.
: Top nuclear envoys of Japan, South Korea and the United States discuss efforts to coordinate responses to the latest North Korean ballistic missile test.
: Top nuclear envoys of Japan, South Korea and the United States speak on the phone and condemn North Korea’s latest satellite test.
: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio meet in Seoul on the sidelines of their trilateral with China and agree to make a “historic leap” in bilateral relations ahead of the 60th anniversary of normalization in 2025.
: South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers speak on the phone to discuss the upcoming trilateral leader summit with China taking place in Seoul.
: South Korean and Japanese police chiefs agree to improve joint responses to security and cyberthreats during their meeting in Tokyo, the first talks in fourteen years.
: Top nuclear envoys of Japan, South Korea, and the United States meet in Tokyo to discuss the North Korean threat and its growing military cooperation with Russia.
: South Korean Minister of Science and ICT Lee Jong-ho vows to protect Korean companies from “unfair treatment” in the midst of Japan’s pressure on LY Corp. and Naver Corp.