WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- A senior U.S. government official on Thursday played down growing worries that often-prickly relations between South Korea and Japan may hurt Washington's alliance with Seoul.
Mike Hammer, assistant secretary for public affairs at the State Department, said the U.S. "understands" some disagreements between its top Asian allies.
Korea and Japan are locked in repeated stand-offs over their shared history and contrary territorial claims -- a result of Japan's brutal colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945.
"We understand some issues can sometimes not be agreed upon," he said during a briefing at the Foreign Press Center here.
It was his first formal meeting with foreign journalists based in Washington since he was confirmed by the Senate for the post in March.
He was responding to Yonhap News Agency's question over the possibility that Japan's suspected military build-up, with the alleged support of the U.S., may cause a rift in Washington's ties with Seoul.
Hammer, who formerly served at the White House as special assistant to President Barack Obama, expressed optimism over not only the U.S. alliances with Korea and Japan, respectively, but also trilateral cooperation.
"If we work all together, we have common values and common principles that we all share and so through dialogue you can overcome whatever differences it might be," he stressed.
Hammer reiterated Washington's principle not to intervene directly in bilateral affairs between Seoul and Tokyo.
"That's obviously a matter for them to address, but from the United States perspective, we are very encouraged and very bullish on the state of our relationships with both of those countries," he said.
The U.S. views the time-honored alliances with Korea and Japan as the pillar of its new Asia emphasis after a decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. officials are eager to bolster trilateral cooperation with the two regional powers. Such an effort has been hamstrung by repeated disputes between Seoul and Tokyo.
South Koreans think Japan has yet to offer a reserved apology for its wartime atrocities, including forcing girls and women into sexual slavery for troops during the World War II.
The political and diplomatic difficulties between the neighboring nations are contrary to their ever-growing economic and cultural ties.
An informed diplomatic source said, "The U.S. knows that history and territorial issues between Korea and Japan are sensitive. But they tend to see it as marginal."
"Korea's firm stance is that those are both sensitive and central matters," the source said.
Another source said the U.S. seems not to believe Japan is trying to build up its military arsenal.
"Still, South Korea and other regional nations have suspicions over Japan's intention," the source said. "It is a matter (between South Korea and the U.S.) to agree to disagree."