아베시대 일·러 영토교섭 -1956년 일소공동선언을 중심으로-

Abstract

On September 2018 at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia President Vladimir Putin proposed to sign a peace treaty with Japan “no preconditions by the end of the year.” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appreciated Putin’s remarks as an indication of his willingness to conclude a peace treaty. Finally, at the November 2018 summit meeting between Japan and Russia, Abe agreed to accelerate negotiations on the conclusion of a peace treaty based on the Japanese-Soviet Joint Declaration in 1956. This means changing the negotiation policy by returning two islands. As a result, the territorial disputes between the two countries seemed to move realistically.BR However, despite the positive resumption of negotiations between Japan and Russia, the two countries have confirmed only the differences in their positions over the two islands. Russia argues that the return of the two islands is not detailed in the 1956 Japanese-Soviet Joint Declaration, and that it is necessary to discuss how to lead the two islands. In particular, the issue of sovereignty is considered as a subject of discussion, but Japan sees that sovereignty will be restored by two islands.BR In addition, after returning under the Japan-US Security Treaty, Russia warned that US military bases were set up on these islands, and held the position that it would be difficult to hand over the sovereignty of the two islands to Japan. In this way, in the process of territorial negotiations between Japan and Russia, negotiations on the conclusion of the peace treaty have not made any progress since November 2018 due to differences in views on historical perceptions and security issues between the two countries. In addition, public opinion showing a strong position on the two islands lead also has a negative impact.BR Eventually, Prime Minister Abe set the initial goal related to the conclusion of the Japan-Russia peace treaty by the Osaka G20 Summit in June 2019, and led the general agreement at this meeting, but the goal was not achieved. Abe’s the strategy of drawing out a certain degree of concession to return two islands from Russia should be reviewed.BR This paper will discuss several things. First, this paper will analyze the position of the two countries that decided to accelerate negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty based on a joint declaration between the two countries in November 2018. Second, this paper will examine the differences between the two countries in relation to the territorial issue showing the negotiation process through the remarks of government officials. Third, this paper will try to find out why the peace treaty negotiations are delayed and how the territorial negotiations issue should be solved.