Yoshinori Katori leads the Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Fund and the Lee Soo-hyun Scholarship Association after serving as the General Secretary to Korea.
“The ‘division of historical awareness’ in Japan is a problem to be solved... Korea-Japan cooperation contributes to the stability of the international community”
[※ Editor's note = Yonhap News, a national news agency, will hold the '2026 Future Economy Forum' on November 3 with the theme of cooperation between Korea and Japan. We discuss ways for Korea and Japan to achieve transnational economic cooperation in a rapidly bloc global economic landscape. The forum seeks to explore ways for Korea and Japan to create a step-by-step cooperation system and move toward an economic community, taking note of the fact that the European Union (EU), which was launched jointly by France and Germany, which had been historically at odds for a long time, has established itself as a powerful economic union. Accordingly, Yonhap News publishes interviews every Sunday with people from all walks of life who have been involved in cooperative activities in both Korea and Japan ahead of the forum.]
(Tokyo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Cho Sung-mi = When asked about his relationship with Korea, Yoshinori Katori, chairman of the Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Fund, recalled a heart-warming memory of sitting around a table with Korean acquaintances and having a meal together in the early 2000s when he was working as a diplomat at the Japanese Embassy in Korea.
“When I worked as a diplomat in Germany, Israel, Indonesia, etc., I somehow got along with Korean diplomats and became very close with them. I feel that the two countries have a good connection through exchanges that have continued for over 2,000 years.”
After serving as general manager of the Japanese Embassy in Korea, Chairman Katori retired from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2014 and has been working on youth exchanges between the two countries since 2022 by serving as chairman of the Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Fund, which aims to promote cooperation between future generations.
From 1989 to last month, the Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Fund supported approximately 45,800 Korean and Japanese youth and teachers to visit each other's countries, and helped about 800 researchers stay in each other's countries and conduct in-depth research.
Chairman Katori also serves as the president of the 'LSH Asia Scholarship' in memory of Su-Hyeon Lee, who lost his life in 2001 while trying to save a Japanese man who fell on the railroad tracks at Shin-Okubo Station, adjacent to Koreatown in Tokyo.
The LSH Asia Scholarship Society has been awarding scholarships to Asian students studying Japanese, fulfilling Suhyun Lee's unfulfilled wish. As of last year, 1,300 people were eligible to benefit, and even now, 25 years after his sacrifice, he is continuing his activities steadily.
Chairman Katori said that it is best to see the broadening of exchanges between young people from Korea and Japan through the Japan-Korea Cultural Exchange Fund and the LSH Asia Scholarship.
“Even though Korea-Japan relations have improved, there are still many people in Japan who do not know much about Korea. When we hold youth exchange events in various parts of Japan, local residents who have seen Koreans for the first time say, ‘I was very impressed by the Korean youth.’ It makes me feel so good.”
Chairman Katori said that Japanese people's sense of intimacy with Korea has been steadily increasing since 2023, with 54.7% surveyed earlier this year, and that it was especially encouraging that the affinity response rate among young people aged 18 to 29 was 64.7%, which was significantly higher than the average.
However, he assessed that Japanese people's intimacy with Korea is still lower than that of the United States or European countries, and said, "There is clearly more room to understand each other."
Chairman Katori expressed regret that although Korea and Japan should have a close relationship, there were times when the relationship was estranged.
Regarding Korea-Japan historical issues and Japan's reflection, he pointed out that the reason why the Korean side says 'Japan is not reflecting' and the Japanese side says 'Korea continues to get angry no matter how many times it reflects' is due to the 'division phenomenon' within Japanese society regarding historical issues.
Even though the Japanese government has made remorseful statements, such as former Prime Minister Naoto Kan expressing "deep remorse and a heartfelt apology" in his 2010 speech marking the 100th anniversary of Korea's forced annexation, some in Japan are making conflicting claims such as "Japan did nothing wrong," deepening the emotional rift among Koreans.
Chairman Katori said, “It is an issue that Japan must seriously consider in the future on how to resolve the ‘division phenomenon’ in historical issues.”
He urged Koreans to understand that "many Japanese people have the same historical awareness as the Japanese government (which has revealed its colonial rule)," and emphasized the importance of dialogue and exchange between citizens.
Based on his experience working as a diplomat for a long time, he expressed regret that while the European Union (EU) and ASEAN play a major role as major members of the international community, there is no such center in geopolitically important East Asia.
Chairman Katori said, "Korea and Japan becoming closer means that a large stabilizing device will be created in a very confusing international situation," and emphasized that close cooperation between Korea and Japan will lead to results that contribute to the international community and the East Asian region.
