The Japan-South Korea Thaw

In the face of threats from China and North Korea, can America’s East Asian allies find ways to cooperate despite a painful past?

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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a ceremony marking the 104th anniversary of the Independence Movement Day against Japanese colonial rule on March 1, 2023. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Japan and South Korea may finally be moving past the wounds that have colored their relationship for more than a century. If they do, America’s position in the Indo-Pacific and the overall stability of the region both stand to benefit. 

On Monday, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin announced that South Korean companies that received cash from the Japanese government as part of a 1965 normalization treaty would pay damages to the Korean victims of Imperial Japan’s forced labor. The step suspended Seoul’s previous demands for compensation by Japanese firms—though they can still pay into a trust in a voluntary show of good will—resolving a longstanding point of tension between the two East Asian democracies.

Japan, meanwhile, said it would consider loosening 2019 restrictions on the export of materials vital to South Korea’s semiconductor industry. And on Monday, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi affirmed a 1998 joint declaration between the two countries in which Tokyo expressed its “deep remorse and heartfelt apology” for Japan’s brutal colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. 

The leaders of both Pacific powers hailed the carefully choreographed gestures as important steps toward improved ties. A third party said the same: the United States. 

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  1. Georges

    “ can America’s East Asian allies find ways to cooperate despite a painful past?”
    Probably. A lot rides on the perceived threat from China being large enough to persuade them that cooperation is necessary.
    At this time that seems to be the case.
    China was set to be a rising economic power in an era of peace and prosperity and as of this writing they seemed to have wrecked that version of the future.
    Nice going, fools.

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    Danny M

    Excellent article, Charlotte. Thank you for this in-depth look at these recent developments between Japan and South Korea.

    I think the US is taking the correct approach here, giving room for both parties to work out their differences and address historical grievances in their own way while simultaneously supporting and encouraging the rapprochement. As liberal democracies, all three of our nations share common values. It's imperative that we continue to work more closely together and form an impenetrable shield against any authoritarian aggression.

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    JohnD

    Thanks Charlotte. I think closer ties, both economically and militarily, between Japan and SK are a key first step. Eventually, with the help of the US, they can add Singapore and perhaps Taiwan to this equation. This, with a seat at the table for Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, is the ultimate counter to Chinese imperialism. I think both the Democrats and Trump’s retreat from TPP was an unforced error by the US. Perhaps a rapprochement between Japan and SK is a good first step in recreating a TPP type counter weight to China.

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  4. DTruitt

    This only makes common sense for everyone but the PRC. The notion that stuff that happened 75-100 years ago must dictate current international relations is pretty silly, really just an excuse for policies otherwise thought useful to one or the other nation involved. The current ROK leadership seems rather level headed unlike the previous one. It didn't help that Trump at that time was doing his level worst to sunder all of our international alliances on behalf of his funder Putin and Putin's oligarchs, who constituted most of Trump's customers for his business selling real estate.

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    DougCLE

    I hope they can make it stick this time. This has been one of the bigger hang-ups in our efforts to solidify a regional block to counter China. Thanks, Charlotte.

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    Logical

    My general rule is that, rapprochement is the best approach after all the originally effected die. Both the aggressors and victims.

    Doesn't mean it can't happen earlier. It is difficult. The US-Vietnam ties are extraordinary. (Different from US-Germany and US-Japan where there's a clear winner and a loser.)

    Putin is invoking the 10th century for claims on Kiev. Israel invokes the old testament. India-Pakistan, Turkey-Armenia, Turks-Kurds..... it's all plain stupid, creating forever vicious cycles.

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    1. DTruitt

      Actually, it's very common in US history to "forgive and forget". We fought two wars against the Brits in the late 18th and early 19th century, and competed with them in the next two decades over expansion to the northwest American continent, yet by the middle of the 19th the Brits were among our strongest trading partners and international allies. Japan was one of our allies in the early 20th century, including WW One, then a decade later we were at odds with Japan ... then strong allies again after 1945. We were enemies of the Soviets from the time they took over after the Russian Revolution through the first 2 years of WW Two ... then suddenly Hitler attacked the Soviets in 1941 and we instantly became allies again until 1945 .. then became enemies again for the next 46 years thereafter until the Soviet Union collapsed. Then friends again in the 1990s, then enemies again after Putin took control in 2000.

      A famous quote is:

      “Therefore I say that it is a narrow policy to suppose that this country or that is to be marked out as the eternal ally or the perpetual enemy of England. We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow.”

      ― Lord Palmerston

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    Chris L

    If Poland and Ukraine can patch things up after >500 years of animosity in the face of Russian aggression, Japan and South Korea can after about 100 years of animosity in the face of Chinese aggression. When a nice thing like this happens, look to the negative reactions to see if this is a good idea.

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    Ted Gale

    Nice article . . . and an important reminder of the painful history of that part of the world, about which too many Americans are entirely ignorant (by no means do I hold myself out as an expert, but I have been, in at least a very general way, aware of the history of Japanese imperialism from the late 19th century through the end of WWII, but I am also persuaded that Japan is in many ways a very different country now than it was (not least because of our enlightened approach to the occupation that followed the war)).

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