Relationship in next 50 years depends on how Japan acts
Fifty years ago Monday, Korea and Japan normalized diplomatic ties leaving their past relations as colony and colonial ruler behind. Yet their bilateral relationship now is at one of its lowest points owing mainly to Tokyo's historical revisionism, and Seoul's adamant rejection of it. As things stand now, one has to wonder how the two nations will pull through the next half century.
It comes as a relief in this regard that both governments are struggling hard to bring their strained ties back to normal. President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended receptions hosted by their respective embassies, and expressed their wishes for bettering bilateral relations.
"I hope the two countries will turn this anniversary into the first year of moving toward a new relationship," President Park said. "I would like to improve and develop ties, along with President Park, for the people of both nations and the next generation," Prime Minister Abe said in reply.
So the two governments avoided the worst-case scenario of celebrating the occasion separately with some anticipating a bilateral summit, which the two leaders have not held since taking office, before this year passes.
That will depend on how Tokyo handles two matters ― the "comfort women" issue and Premier Abe's upcoming August 15 statement.
If the Japanese government keeps refusing to acknowledge the state's responsibility in forcefully herding tens of thousands of young Korean women into military brothels and properly compensate the surviving 50 former sex slaves, bilateral ties can return to ground zero at anytime. Likewise, Prime Minister Abe's statement should include an unequivocal expression of "apology" in addition to self-reflection.
Many Japanese people ― and some Koreans ― say the two allies should not remain permanently mired in the past, but should move toward the future. Few could deny the need for such a forward-looking stance. In this case, however, history is not just a collection of bygone events but a mirror that shows what their future will look like. If Seoul patches up ― as it did 50 years ago ― Japan's historical wrongs in its haste to restore amicable ties for the economy and national security, any ostensible reconciliation will be little better than a house of cards.
In 1965, Korea had to sign the Basic Treaty ― which neither made Japan acknowledge the unlawfulness of its forced annexation of Korea nor accept its legal responsibility for the brutal colonial rule ― because of the wide gap in national power, Seoul's haste to jumpstart economic growth with Japanese loans and the U.S. pressure to normalize ties with its former colonizer to jointly push back threats from communists in Russia, China and North Korea. If Seoul repeats the same mistake this time, the bilateral relationship in the next half century will never be free from its adverse effects, as the past five decades have shown.
Nothing shows Japan's real intention better than the recent moves within its ruling Liberal Democratic Party to verify the legitimacy of the Tokyo Trial, in which the Allies punished Japanese wartime leaders as criminals. Who can say for sure Tokyo's next step will not be the justification of starting the Pacific War, and the colonization of Korea before it?
True, the two-track approach by separating historical disputes from economic and defense cooperation is necessary. If Tokyo tries to revisit the postwar regime, however, then Seoul should also be ready to rewrite the Basic Treaty reflecting the changed situations in the past half century.
Fifty years ago Monday, Korea and Japan normalized diplomatic ties leaving their past relations as colony and colonial ruler behind. Yet their bilateral relationship now is at one of its lowest points owing mainly to Tokyo's historical revisionism, and Seoul's adamant rejection of it. As things stand now, one has to wonder how the two nations will pull through the next half century.
It comes as a relief in this regard that both governments are struggling hard to bring their strained ties back to normal. President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended receptions hosted by their respective embassies, and expressed their wishes for bettering bilateral relations.
"I hope the two countries will turn this anniversary into the first year of moving toward a new relationship," President Park said. "I would like to improve and develop ties, along with President Park, for the people of both nations and the next generation," Prime Minister Abe said in reply.
So the two governments avoided the worst-case scenario of celebrating the occasion separately with some anticipating a bilateral summit, which the two leaders have not held since taking office, before this year passes.
That will depend on how Tokyo handles two matters ― the "comfort women" issue and Premier Abe's upcoming August 15 statement.
If the Japanese government keeps refusing to acknowledge the state's responsibility in forcefully herding tens of thousands of young Korean women into military brothels and properly compensate the surviving 50 former sex slaves, bilateral ties can return to ground zero at anytime. Likewise, Prime Minister Abe's statement should include an unequivocal expression of "apology" in addition to self-reflection.
Many Japanese people ― and some Koreans ― say the two allies should not remain permanently mired in the past, but should move toward the future. Few could deny the need for such a forward-looking stance. In this case, however, history is not just a collection of bygone events but a mirror that shows what their future will look like. If Seoul patches up ― as it did 50 years ago ― Japan's historical wrongs in its haste to restore amicable ties for the economy and national security, any ostensible reconciliation will be little better than a house of cards.
In 1965, Korea had to sign the Basic Treaty ― which neither made Japan acknowledge the unlawfulness of its forced annexation of Korea nor accept its legal responsibility for the brutal colonial rule ― because of the wide gap in national power, Seoul's haste to jumpstart economic growth with Japanese loans and the U.S. pressure to normalize ties with its former colonizer to jointly push back threats from communists in Russia, China and North Korea. If Seoul repeats the same mistake this time, the bilateral relationship in the next half century will never be free from its adverse effects, as the past five decades have shown.
Nothing shows Japan's real intention better than the recent moves within its ruling Liberal Democratic Party to verify the legitimacy of the Tokyo Trial, in which the Allies punished Japanese wartime leaders as criminals. Who can say for sure Tokyo's next step will not be the justification of starting the Pacific War, and the colonization of Korea before it?
True, the two-track approach by separating historical disputes from economic and defense cooperation is necessary. If Tokyo tries to revisit the postwar regime, however, then Seoul should also be ready to rewrite the Basic Treaty reflecting the changed situations in the past half century.
