What is happening?
This Valentine’s Day weekend, while couples around the world celebrated their love, Japan and South Korea saluted their anniversary as 2025 marks their diamond jubilee —60 years since the normalization of their diplomatic relations. On this occasion, Tokyo Tower was lit up in the colors of South Korea’s flag, and its architectural counterpart, N Seoul Tower, was illuminated in red and blue, reflecting the colors of the two countries’ national flags. This is supposed to be just the beginning of various initiatives aimed at improving relations between the two nations.
What is the broader picture?
From a historical perspective, there are quite a few reasons explaining the fragility in relations between the people of Japan and Korea. Japan unsuccessfully tried to conquer Korea during Imjin War (1592-1598), forced it to open trade relations in 1876 following the Ganghwa Island incident, and finally annexed it in 1910. The following colonial rule entailed the Japanization of Korean society, including cultural suppression, assimilation policies, and more. The situation worsened during World War II (and the Second Sino-Japanese War 1937-1945) as many Koreans became victims of forced labor, forced conscriptions into the Japanese army, or of the Japanese comfort women program, which forced many of them into sexual slavery in Japanese military brothels.
Japanese colonial rule concluded with the end of World War II, after which Japan embarked on a pacifist path. However, it took 20 long years for Japan and South Korea to normalize their relations by signing the Treaty on Basic Relations on June 22, 1965. Japan provided $800 million in economic aid in exchange for relief from reparations, which South Korean critics called a “national sellout,” and Japan’s expression of “true regret” and “deep remorse” was considered vague.
In 1998, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi issued a joint declaration, with Obuchi expressing “deep remorse and heartfelt apology” for Japan’s colonial rule. To many Japanese, the economic aid combined with this apology has closed the case, but historical grievances, such as forced labor and “comfort women” issues, remain sensitive to this day.
Mutual relations are thus largely dependent on current government and personal relations between leaders of the two countries. In 2018, for example, South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered Japanese firms to compensate victims of wartime forced labor, which they refused. The incident sparked animosity on both sides and was solved only in 2023, also thanks to the positive relationship between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who made rebuilding relations with Japan one of his priorities. The year 2023 also witnessed the first-ever stand-alone summit between the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and the US at Camp David, starting a trilateral framework aiming to pursue a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive, resilient, and secure.”
Why does it matter?
As mentioned, the relationship between the state of Japan and South Korea largely depends on personalistic factors shaped by the political leadership. Recent years witnessed significant improvements under Kishida, Yoon, and US President Biden, whose administration put a lot of effort into building trilateral partnerships in the Indo-Pacific. However, a lot has changed in the last few months. Both Kishida and Biden decided not to run again in upcoming elections, and Yoon was impeached. Despite that, there seems to be a willingness in both Japan and South Korea to keep improving the relations. After all, as liberal democracies facing similar security challenges arising from neighboring dictatorships embodied by Russia, China, and North Korea, Tokyo and Seoul are each other’s closest matches.
The illumination of Tokyo’s and Seoul’s famous towers was a project jointly organized by the two countries’ governments to promote people-to-people exchanges. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Funakoshi said that his government will support various programs during the landmark year to deepen understanding and improve relations among people from both countries. On a similar note, South Korea’s Ambassador Park asserted he will work to build unshakable and irreversible bilateral ties. One might say that in today’s world, no alliance seems to be irreversible or unshakeable, but for the same reason, having at least normal(ized) relations is worth celebrating.
