By Chung Min-uck
Relations between Korea and Japan are likely to remain at a low point under the Park Geun-hye government for the time being, as Tokyo is set to provoke Seoul over its easternmost islets of Dokdo.
President Park is expected to go toe-to-toe in the ongoing feud with Japan over various issues including Dokdo. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs already made its uncompromising stance clear, Wednesday.
Japan is also in no mood for reconciliation.
“Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s right-wing government will continue to lay claims to Dokdo until the Upper House election slated for July,” said Doh See-hwan, a research fellow at the state-run Northeast Asian History Foundation. “Park’s administration is currently holding back its level of protest due to North Korea’s nuclear test in February. South Korea needs Japan’s cooperation to deal with it. But as soon as the nuke issue is settled, Seoul will take a stronger stance against Tokyo’s provocations.”
Abe, a staunch nationalist, has been capitalizing on nationalist sentiment to woo voters. His Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), partly due to hard-line campaign pledges directed at neighboring countries, won the majority of seats in last year’s Lower House election. It is now bracing for Upper House elections in July.
During the campaign, Abe vowed to have the central government host “Takeshima Day” and revise its 1993 apology for war crimes. Takeshima is the Japanese name for Dokdo.
Taking office in December, the nationalist leader sent a high-raking government official to Japan’s self-declared Takeshima Day on Feb. 22, three days before Park’s inauguration. The Japanese government also approved three more high school textbooks that include Japan’s claims over the islets, Tuesday, which brought a protest from Seoul.
Further provocation is expected as Tokyo is bracing to release its diplomatic Blue Book next in which, according to reports from Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, sovereignty claims to Dokdo are included.
Tokyo is also slated to hold Yasukuni Shrine Spring Festival next month where Abe and other right-wing politicians are expected to pay reverence to those enshrined there, which include Class-A war criminals from World War II.
In its 2013 policy plan reported to President Park, Wednesday, the foreign affairs ministry vowed to sternly respond to any territorial and historical provocations from Japan.
“Due to territorial and historical issues, the two nations have experienced heightened tension,” said a ministry official asking for anonymity. “While seeking to cooperate in areas that are mutually beneficial, we will not overlook any unjustified claims.”
Seoul-Tokyo relations have remained at low ebb since former President Lee Myung-bak’s unprecedented visit to Dokdo on Aug. 10, 2012, which caused a strong reaction in Japan.