Park, Abe face off in fierce diplomatic war
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President Park Geun-hye on Thursday lays a wreath on the Raj Ghat in New Delhi, India, a memorial that marks the location where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. / Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
NEW DELHI — President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are engaged in a fierce diplomatic war to rally support from India and Switzerland.
Their battle comes at a time when the two countries’ relations have hit rock bottom following Abe’s recent controversial visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which houses the remains on 14 Class A war criminals.
Park and Abe hardly exchanged words in awkward encounters during multilateral events last year; but the places they visit this time overlap because they are competing to win the support of key countries.
Park is on a state visit to the world’s second most populous country this week and Abe is scheduled to follow suit later this month. They will also take part in the Davos Forum in Switzerland next week.
Throughout 2013, both of them put forth efforts to meet every member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has gained political and economic clout.
“Korea and Japan have many common interests on the diplomatic scene. As export-driven economies, they are forced to look outside their borders,” said Professor Shin Yul at Myongji University.
“That’s why the overseas destinations of Park and Abe tend to overlap. In particular, they may be focusing on building stronger ties with significant nations as the two neighbors are at odds on so many issues.”
Since Abe took office in late 2012, he has made a series of aggressive remarks and undertaken activities, which many critics claim showed his lack of contrition for Japan’s past misdeeds during World War II.
Criticisms peaked last month when he visited the Yasukuni Shrine. As Abe’s unrepentant attitude continues, Park has refused to meet him.
Although both Park and Abe stress diplomacy, observers point out that their ultimate interests are somewhat different.
Park reiterated that she will concentrate on economic issues to help Korea Inc. chalk up faster economic growth based on overseas operations, while Abe has tried to gain political prestige at the international level.
The latter’s efforts are in line with recent moves attempting to restore Japan’s profile across the world and flex its military muscle beyond its shore by gaining the rights to dispatch its soldiers to participate in foreign conflicts.
A war of nerves between Park and Abe is also happening in other areas.
In a recent interview with India’s state-run broadcaster Doordarshan TV, for example, President Park made comments on moves to increase the number of permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
“The position of the Korean government is that rather than endowing permanent status through a one-off election allocating permanent seats on the Security Council, it would be more advisable for us to engage in regularly elections through which we can take account of the changed world circumstances and be able to more practically adapt to these changed circumstances,” she said.
“The Korean government feels it is more desirable to increase the number of non-permanent seats on the UNSC.”
Japan was not on her lips but analysts noted that her remarks were geared toward preventing Japan from gaining membership of the powerful and exclusive fraternity composed of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.
Japan, India, Germany and Brazil are vying to join them.