After pursuing a hard-line approach for years, South Korea may be seeing its policy toward Japan coming to a head as signs emerge of a rift with the U.S.
With President Park Geun-hye’s inauguration in February 2013, it seemed the relationship with Japan could not possibly deteriorate further. Two years later, ties are still frosty.
Many diplomatic and security initiatives are at a standstill. Businesses have closed down or scaled back investment, while tourist in- and outflows contracted. Though Tokyo is historically considered a key neighbor, Park is yet to have a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. In contrast, she has held at least four meetings each with her U.S. and Chinese counterparts.
While Abe’s revisionist moves are chiefly to blame for the current strain, many experts and former officials have voiced concerns about the Park government’s lack of flexibility and pragmatism, which they said could reduce its leverage and trigger a backlash from the U.S.
Now signs of eroding patience are seeping out of Washington, which has been seeking to beef up a trilateral security partnership with its two prime allies in the region in line with its strategic refocus toward Asia and growing North Korean threats.
At a seminar in Washington on Friday, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said “disagreements” about history and territory issues between South Korea, Japan and China are “understandable, but it can also be frustrating.”
“Nationalist feelings can still be exploited, and it’s not hard for a political leader anywhere to earn cheap applause by vilifying a former enemy,” she said.
“But such provocations produce paralysis, not progress. To move ahead, we have to see beyond what was to envision what might be. And in thinking about the possibilities, we don’t have to look far for a cautionary tale of a country that has allowed itself to be trapped by its own history.”
The Obama administration’s “rebalancing” strategy is flawed in the first place in the sense that it overlooks the significance of wartime history in relations between Northeast Asian countries.
Seeking to cement a diplomatic legacy, however, Washington will likely continue to pile pressure on Seoul to focus more on the future, but without sufficient efforts to contain Tokyo’s ambitions to reshape the postwar order.
Wary of any policy discord with the U.S., Seoul officials have in recent weeks been arguing that there is “no daylight” between the allies especially in their North Korea approaches. Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong was adamant, telling lawmakers on Monday that “a U.S. siding lopsidedly with Japan will never happen.”
The existence of daylight is not a bad thing as long as it does not blind others’ interests and goals.
Instead of trumpeting a hollow, implausible line, it’s time for them to revisit their policy and prove their diplomatic capability once and for all. One welcoming change was the latest appointment of Lee Byung-kee as the new presidential chief of staff, whose pragmatist credentials, command of Japanese affairs and wide network with officials and politicians boosted hopes for a levelheaded exit strategy during his brief stint as ambassador to Japan last year.
By Shin Hyon-hee (
heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
