TOKYO — The leaders of Japan and South Korea took tentative steps toward reconciliation on Monday, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the onetime colonial master and its subject, raising hopes that they can embark on
TOKYO — The leaders of Japan and South Korea took tentative steps toward reconciliation on Monday, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the onetime colonial master and its subject, raising hopes that they can embark on a new era of cooperation.
At parallel events in Tokyo and Seoul, Japan’s Shinzo Abe and South Korea’s Park Geun-hye emphasized their common interests, in a surprising change of tone from recent arguments over historical issues.
Any easing of tensions between the neighbors would be welcomed in Washington, where the Obama administration has become increasingly frustrated at the inability of the United States’ two closest allies in Asia to work together.
“Given where things are and have been, this is a positive step,” said Scott A. Snyder, a Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations and co-author of “The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash.”
“But the marking of this day doesn’t get us closer to where the leaders need to be. What happens on Aug. 15?” Snyder asked. On that date, Abe will make a much-anticipated statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula, which would almost certainly fail to satisfy Seoul’s calls for a full-throated apology. Recent reports in the Japanese media have suggested that Abe will downgrade the statement to a personal one, rather than a cabinet-approved edict.
Abe and Park have been at odds for the entirety of their time in office, clashing over issues related to the colonial period, particularly the Imperial Japanese Army’s use of Korean women as sex slaves, known euphemistically as “comfort women.” Abe contends that Japan has apologized already, while Park says Japan has yet to sufficiently atone for its actions.
Those tensions have been exacerbated by a territorial dispute over a cluster of guano-covered islets known as Takeshima to the Japanese and Dokdo to the Koreans, and more recently over Japan’s efforts to gain UNESCO recognition for industrial sites where South Korea says its citizens were forced to work in servitude.
But Monday, history was barely mentioned.
“Let’s build a new era for both of our countries, reflecting on the past 50 years of friendship and looking to the coming 50 years,” Abe said at a reception in Tokyo hosted by the South Korean Embassy. “Together with President Park Geun-hye, I will work toward that.”
After Abe’s speech, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se read remarks from Park, complete with a slideshow of photos with Japanese captions showing Park and Abe together — and smiling — at various meetings. This was despite the fact that the pair has never had a dedicated bilateral meeting.
Meanwhile, at a parallel event in Seoul hosted by the Japanese Embassy, Park said the two countries should unload their “heavy burden of history” and look to the future.
Park is under pressure at home — partly as a result over her government’s handling of the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak — and analysts say that brokering a kind of peace with Japan could work in her favor.
A joint survey published Monday by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun and South Korea’s Dong-a Ilbo found that 64 percent of Japanese wanted to see an improvement in bilateral relations, as did 87 percent of South Koreans polled.
