December 28, 2015
Progress in Korea-Japan Relations
Stephen E. Noerper
The 28 December 2015 agreement to resolve the lingering issue of World War II “comfort women” announced by South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se and Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is a positive turning point for America’s two most important allies in Northeast Asia. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quick to follow the ministerial announcement with a call to South Korean President Park Geun-hye expressing his “sincere apologies” who suffered as sex slaves under control of the Japanese Imperial Army would move the two nations to a new era in bilateral relations. The official nature of the apology from the Government of Japan is underscored by the one billion yen in funds from its budget to be provided to a foundation established by the Government of the Republic of Korea for the purpose of providing assistance to the former “comfort women.”
Full acceptance of this agreement may be some time off for those who suffered under Japanese rule as well as by nationalist voices in the ROK and Japan, yet the political will required to arrive at the agreement was tremendous. Yet the agreement marks a turning point, and its importance for the two nations, the region and the United States cannot be underestimated. The meeting of the South Korean president and Japanese prime minister in early November provided the necessary foundation for the foreign policy establishments of both countries to move the agenda forward to resolve this issue. Had they not, the steady decline in political and economic contacts and popular opinion would have only continued to the loss of both nations and the US. At a time of heighted concerns about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, the ever-deepening fault line between Seoul and Tokyo was exacerbating tensions in the region. In Tom Plate’s 2012 Conversations with Ban Ki Moon, the Korean-born UN Secretary General cautioned that for the region to develop right, Korea and Japan had to move beyond historical issues and lean forward for greater regional cooperation.
Forward movement could not have come too soon for the political cycles in Korea and Japan, as well as in the United States. The Japanese prime minister found his ambitions for economic recovery and a more “normal” regional profile stymied by inertia, while Korea has been growing in political and economic influence. Moreover, Japan’s long-stated interest in garnering a permanent seat on the UN Security Council had no hope with the impasse. For the Korean president, who had seen Japan send the largest foreign delegation to her inaugural, stalled relations took both an economic and political toll. With only two years remaining in her presidency and parliamentary elections in April, President Park gained an important foreign policy victory that rectifies the downturn in relations which began under her predecessor. A return to dialogue over intelligence sharing between Korea and Japan over the North Korean threat is but one area that might hopefully see fruition should relations improve further.
For the United States, the administration of President Barack Obama has held out an enhanced Asia focus as central to its foreign policy. The breaking of the political impasse among its two allies is of critical importance. US National Security Advisor Susan Rice applauded Korea and Japan for—in their words–“finally and irreversibly” addressing the historical burden on their relations and offered Washington’s support for implementation of the agreement. Washington needs not only a détente between Seoul and Tokyo but constructive cooperation to see its regional aspirations reach full potential. The agreement may also bolster economic cooperation between Korea and Japan, perhaps also helping Korea gain accession into the Trans Pacific Partnership once that free trade association becomes operational. A Korea and Japan moving more in tandem serves well both US and broader interests for stability and prosperity in Northeast Asia.
