20 Years On, Distrust Overshadows Improved Japan-S. Korea Ties

October 9, 2018

Tokyo- During the 20 years since Japan and South Korea signed a joint declaration pledging efforts to build a future-oriented bilateral partnership, their relations have gone through ups and downs.

After their ties were frayed rapidly in the early 2010s, the two countries are currently working to mend fences. But differences over bilateral history and territory remain unresolved, leaving mutual distrust yet to be dispelled.

In the joint declaration signed in Tokyo on Oct. 8 1998, then Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi "expressed deep remorse and heartfelt apology" over the tremendous damage and suffering Japan caused to the people of South Korea during its colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945.

Then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung said both countries need to respond to the call of the times by overcoming unfortunate history and making efforts to build a future-oriented relationship.

At a news conference on Friday, Foreign Minister Taro Kono stressed Japan's policy of pursuing a future-oriented relationship with South Korea.

"Various things have happened over the 20 years, but there is no change at all to Japan and South Korea being important partners," Kono said. "In a milestone year, we hope to promote Japan-South Korea relations in a forward-looking way."

In August 2012, then South Korean President Lee Myung-bak set foot on the Takeshima Islands in Shimane Prefecture, western Japan. The disputed islands in the Sea of Japan are effectively under South Korean administration.

In December 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors Class-A criminals of World War II along with the war dead. South Korea and China regard the Shinto shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Following these developments, relations between Japan and South Korea soured quickly to the worst point after the 1998 joint declaration.

But their ties began recovering after the two countries reached a landmark agreement in December 2015 to resolve "finally and irreversibly" the issue of so-called comfort women, mostly from the Korean Peninsula, who were forced to serve as prostitutes for Japanese troops before and during the war.

This year, Abe visited South Korea in February to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, while South Korean President Moon Jae-in came to Japan in May for a three-way summit of Japan, South Korea and China. To continue the mutual visits, Japan aims to arrange a visit to Japan by Moon for bilateral purposes later this year.

Both governments have set up panels of experts to discuss specific measures to improve bilateral ties in the anniversary year. The panels have each come up with proposals to promote cultural and personnel exchanges, with members of the panels scheduled to hold talks in Seoul in late October.

A deep gulf over history perceptions remains between the two countries, however.

South Korea suggested in September that it may dissolve an organization launched under the 2015 agreement to provide financial assistance to former comfort women, irking Japan, which seeks a steady implementation of the accord.

Japan has recently canceled the dispatch of Maritime Self-Defense Force ships to an international fleet review planned for Thursday on the Jeju Island, after South Korea demanded the removal of the MSDF's "kyokujitsuki" rising sun flag from the ships. In South Korea, there is a strong aversion toward the white flag depicting red rays spreading out from a red disk, the same design as that for the flag of the former Imperial Japanese military.

A senior official of Japan's Foreign Ministry regretted the episode, which could pour cold water on the milestone year.

Bilateral confrontation over the Takeshima Islands remains unabated. South Korea has frequently carried out maritime surveys around the islands and Japan lodged protests repeatedly.

The 20 years since the signing of the joint declaration thus highlighted that mutual distrust between the two countries over history and territory cannot be overcome easily.

But their common challenge of achieving the denuclearization of their unpredictable neighbor, North Korea, requires close collaboration between Japan and South Korea. They need to make respective efforts to come to a compromise by taking a future-oriented approach to bilateral issues in line with the essence of the 1998 joint declaration, analysts say.Jiji Press