“Japan needs Korea as a strategic partner and friend,” said Takeo Kawamura, senior member of the House of Representatives in Japan at an event on alliances in Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation.
In recent years, tensions between Japan and South Korea—two of America’s key allies in Asia—have increased. But rather than dwelling on downward trends in relations, the event highlighted the myriad of mutual interests that Japan and Korea share.
Long-standing historical tensions between Japan and Korea continue to serve as an obstacle to improved relations. Over the past year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Yasakuni shrine (which honors Japan’s World War II dead and which many Koreans find offensive) and insensitive comments by him and other politicians in Japan have enflamed tensions and chilled relations between the two nations. For Seoul’s part, its apparent inability to isolate history issues from critical strategic matters, as well as a misguided penchant for characterizing Japan as a modern-day security threat, has contributed to the downturn.
Kawamura noted that Japan and Korea have the potential for vast economic ties and share common security concerns, such as the rise of China and North Korean belligerence. Kawamura further stated that Japan needs Korea as a “main partner” in the region.
Bruce Klingner, Heritage’s senior research fellow for Northeast Asia, noted, “At a time when there should be greater cooperation amongst the three nations, there is less cooperation and even a refusal to have bilateral summit meetings.”
Klingner also noted the important role of the U.S. in easing tensions, saying, “Since there is no regional organization comparable to either NATO or the EU, the United States has proved to be the only nation with both the capabilities and the historical record necessary to assume the role of regional balancer and ‘honest broker.’”
The U.S. should challenge both countries to engage with one another through an established reconciliation process, Klingner noted. Practically, this means that Japan should suspend visits to Yasakuni that only complicate the “comfort women” issue and that Seoul should adopt a trustpolitik stance toward Tokyo, rather than viewing Japan as its most significant security threat.
Furthermore, North Korea, not Japan, should be viewed as the greatest threat to South Korean security. Tangible security challenges posed by North Korea are an opportunity for trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, said Kawamura. Klingner further emphasized that the U.S. cannot defend South Korea without Japanese cooperation.
Japan and Korea can overcome their dark past and look to a brighter future, said Kawamura. Rather than allowing long-standing tensions to fester, Japan and South Korea should take steps to reconcile and move forward. Or at the very least, they should better manage their differences in the cause of common priorities. The U.S. can help.
