As North Korea heats up, South Korea and Japan should warm ties [View all]

[davidpdx]

Last edited Thu May 16, 2013, 03:29 AM - Edit history (1)

As General Dempsey knows all too well, strategic and military cooperation between the two neighbors is almost nonexistent, and what little there is usually takes place out of public sight. Only days before this speech, the South Korean foreign minister canceled a visit to Japan aimed at discussing joint measures to deal with North Korea. Last year, the South Korean government pulled back from an agreement with Japan to exchange military intelligence literally hours before the signing ceremony.

These tensions have their roots in a troubled history between the two countries – a history of Japanese annexation of the Korean Peninsula, of brutal colonial rule, and forced labor. This past includes the coercive recruitment, by some estimates, of more than 140,000 Korean “comfort women,” or virtual sex slaves, to work in brothels organized by Japan’s Imperial Army during World War II.

While all that came to an end with the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945, Koreans remain wounded by the periodic refusal of Japanese leaders to acknowledge that past and Japan’s responsibility. The problems over the past are also embedded in a minor territorial dispute over a small group of rocky islets, under South Korean control but claimed by Japan, which Koreans view as a symbol of liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

snip

This clash of historical perception has intensified with the return to power of the Japanese conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) government last December under the leadership of Shinzo Abe. The prime minister was well known for his unrepentant view of wartime history, having run for office on the stated desire to reverse past conciliatory statements on the war, such as the official responsibility for recruiting the “comfort women.”

As prime minister, Mr. Abe has tried to reassure observers of his desire to improve relations with his neighbors. But his inner nationalism has resurfaced. Abe told the parliament last month that Japan’s actions in Asia could not be characterized as “aggression” or “invasion,” repudiating the language of a war apology issued in 1995.

http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-heats-south-korea-japan-warm-ties-131602313.html

Edit: I should make a full disclosure I live in South Korea and have for 10 years but I think that's pretty well known among people and it is on my profile.