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The Park Chung-hee administration made efforts to normalize bilateral relations between Korea and Japan from the early stage of its inauguration. On November 1962, Kim Jong-pil, the director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, and Masayoshi Ohira, from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, worked out the so-called "Kim-Ohira memos," sealing a deal between the two countries on Korea's reparations claim to Japan. However, the deal fell far short of public expectations at that time. After the schedule of the Korea-Japan Talks became public in 1964, opposition parties and students staged rallies opposing the talks. As the protests and struggles intensified, the government declared martial law on June 3, 1964.
Despite a strong backlash from the public, the Treaty on Basic Relations between the Republic of Korea and Japan (the Korea-Japan Treaty) was provisionally concluded on February 19, 1965. On June 22, 1965, the Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Lee Tong-won and his Japanese counterpart Etsusaburo Shiina signed the Korea-Japan Treaty at the official residence of the Japanese Prime Minister in Tokyo.
This booklet is an expository text on the treaty and agreements signed between Korea and Japan on June 22, 1965. The preface states that the Korea-Japan Treaty is considered a peace treaty, rather than seeking the normalization of diplomatic relations or the settlement of bilateral interests between the two countries, and describes its intention to explain the content of the treaty in detail. The Korea-Japan Treaty of 1965 eventually led to the normalization of diplomatic ties between the two countries and allowed Korea to get compensation from Japan. However, this treaty had drawbacks given that it caused massive protests and blocked compensation claims for the numerous damages done by Japanese colonial rule in Korea. |
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Korea-Japan Treaty of 1965, Treaty on Basic Relations between the Republic of Korea and Japan, Kim Jong-pil, Masayoshi Ohira, Lee Tong-won, Etsusaburo Shiina, Park Chung-hee administration, June 3 protests |
