TY - THES ID - 134629619 TI - South Korea’s Policy on Postwar Issues. Towards a Victim-Centered Approach of the 2015 “Comfort Women” Agreement AU - Shahrestani, Carolina AU - Schroyens, Maarten AU - KU Leuven. Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen. Opleiding Master of International Politics (Leuven) PY - 2020 PB - Leuven KU Leuven. Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen DB - UniCat UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:134629619 AB - While the issue of the “comfort women” has been discussed for over decades, reconciliation attempts on this matter has become a major obstacle for Japan-South Korea relations. It wasn’t until December 28, 2015, that both governments signed a bilateral agreement to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the historical issue. Yet the 2015 Agreement demonstrates how policy makers in the Park administration excluded victims and their related organizations in the negotiation process, which received strong backslash from the South Korean public. Nearly one year after the agreement and following the impeachment of President Park in December 2016, the newly inaugurated President Moon promised the South Korean public that he would resolve the controversial 2015 Agreement with the Japanese government by taking a victim-centered approach. Therefore, this paper attempts to explain to what extent the Moon administration has committed to a victim-centered approach on the “comfort women” issue. Based on a series of government publications and interviews with NGO representatives and policymakers, this research finds that the Moon administration has taken victim-centered measures in accordance with the principles of transitional justice. However, these measures have only been taken to the extent that it prevents a complete collapse of bilateral ties between Japan and South Korea. ER -