Relations between South Korea and Japan have seen to have hit a raw phase again after the Supreme Court of South Korea, October, ordered the Japanese companies to compensate people who claimed were mobilized as forced labour and forced to work without pay during the World War II.
Before unravelling the current situation, lets understand how were the relations between the two nations back in the day.
In 1910, when Japan annexed the Korean Peninsula, tensions between the two nations began. Japan annexed the area under Yi Dynasty. Later, when Japan lost the World War, it also lost the control over the region. Since then both the nations have shared a bitter relation. The mistreatment of the Koreans in that period has overshadowed their bilateral relations.
Eventually in 1965, both the nations normalised their relations. This went downhill when the Supreme Court in South Korea ordered the Japanese companies to compensate, which interestingly Tokyo insists that this issue had been settled under the treaty signed in 1965.
How Japan has reacted
Japan has openly criticized this move by the Supreme Court. They have blamed the South Korean government to have influenced the decision. They have also claimed that every political leader in South Korea brings targets Japan to come into power and have influencing the people with anti-Japan sentiment.
Earlier this month, one of the Japanese companies, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation faced the heat when a court in the city of Daegu ordered the seizure of local assets held by the company. This prompted Tokyo to request a direct talk with the South Korean government. They are yet to respond on the request.
No help from their mutual ally
United States, which is the mutual ally to both the countries, is yet to step in. United States is known to have intertwined whenever its allies have had a trouble in their relations.
When there was a political fallout between South Korea and Japan, the Obama administration made sure that both the countries come together and mutually discuss the problems they are facing. “During an earlier South Korean-Japanese dispute, the Obama administration quietly but quite firmly played a mediator role behind the scenes, sending strong messages to both Tokyo and Seoul,” said Bruce Klingner of The Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC.
For this, it organized a United States-South Korea-Japan summit, a trilateral summit, to make sure both its allies have a better bilateral relation. Many analysts believe that this move by United States was because it had to ensure its command in Asia facing its two powerful adversaries, China and North Korea.
The Trump administration however, is not very keen about solving the issues between the two nations. Many analysts have shown their concern with this attituded of the Washington. “Their (Japan and South Korea) respective bilateral alliances with the United States have long contributed to stability and prosperity in Northeast Asia.
The damage to Japan-South Korea relations will not be contained to the two countries. Rather, if left unattended, the strained bilateral relationship has the potential to fundamentally undermine the U.S. alliance system on which Tokyo and Seoul depend for their security and prosperity,” says one of the analysts.
On the other hand, many believe that this is due to its growing ties with North Korea. With Trump planning a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, it is believed that the United States is pretty secure about its hold in Asia.
The military dispute
Last December, a Japanese P-1 maritime patrol aircraft was conducting a surveillance operation over the Sea of Japan. They were observing the activities of two South Korean warship which were operating in the international waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone. One of the South Korean vessels was a coast guard patrol craft aiding a North Korean fishing boat in distress; the other was a Republic of Korea Navy destroyer.
Tokyo claims that its aircraft was threatened by the South Korean ship’s targeting radar for surface-to-air weapons, a charge that Seoul flatly denies. Instead, it accuses the Japanese military of provocatively flying its planes at low altitudes.
Japan warned the South Korean military and also its government to watch out. Meanwhile the South Korean government asked the Japanese government to issue an official apology.
The nationalist sentiments
The government in both the countries is manipulating the emotions of the people. Amidst the dispute, they are trying to establish the ‘anti’ emotion against the other nation.
A public poll in Japan reveals that 62% people in the country believe that stronger measures should be taken against Seoul. The same goes with the South Korean government. The leaders try to politicise issues related to Japan, invoke an anti-Japan emotion and try to control the people.
Conclusion
The current bilateral tensions are seen as a serious problem because even during a political drift, the military has always acted professionally. Now with the military getting dragged in the situation, it is feared that the result of this bilateral tension won’t be in favour of either of the countries or even their allies.
The country whose national interests in the region will be most damaged if our two countries’ … bilateral ties are damaged is the United States of America,” said Katsuyuki Kawai, a special foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Both the countries, in the wake of the recent tensions have already cancelled of at least one personal exchange, and they have also threatened to disrupt intelligence sharing. A Japanese official claims a ‘cooling off period’ is required.
Only time can tell what exactly is in store in the relations of the two nations.