Can All Types of Apologies Deliver Justice and Reconciliation?

This chapter proposes a classification of apologies into four categories and empirically examines their effect on the perception of justice and reconciliation. Based on the four objectives of transitional justice, we distinguish apologies focusing on (i) remorse (corresponding to reconciliation) as a defining feature of any apology; and three adjacent types: (ii) the acceptance of responsibility (corresponding to accountability), (iii) the admission of wrongdoing (truth), and (iv) the acknowledgment of victims’ suffering (reparation). In order to examine their effect, we conducted a between-group experiment with 210 adults recruited from the Korean Qualtrics online panel. Due to unresolved historical injustices by Japan, Korea is an optimal research site to examine the effects of different apologies. The results show that each of the three adjacent types of apologies generates similar effects on the perception of justice when contrasted with a denial condition; and that acknowledgment of suffering and admission of wrongdoing have effects on reconciliation.