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South Korea Relations with Japan
Korea is geographically close, yet emotionally distant from
Japan. Given the historical relationship between the two
countries, the paradoxical nature of their relation is readily
understandable. Since normalizing relations at the urging of the
United States in 1965, Seoul and Tokyo have held annual foreign
ministerial conferences. The usual issues discussed have been
trade, the status of the Korean minority population in Japan, the
content of textbooks dealing with the relationship, Tokyo's
equidistant policy between P'yongyang and Seoul, and the
occasional problems
(see Foreign Policy
, ch. 1).
At the first of three ministerial conferences held in 1987
(in Seoul, New York, and Geneva, respectively), the two
countries' foreign ministers discussed pending issues, including
Seoul's trade deficit with Tokyo. The Japanese minister of
foreign affairs pledged to assist Seoul in its role as host of
the Olympics. Seoul and Tokyo signed a bilateral agreement on sea
rescue and emergency cooperation.
The 1988 foreign ministerial conference was held in Tokyo.
There the two countries agreed to expand exchanges of youths,
students, and teachers, and to establish the twenty-first century
committee between the two nations, as well as a joint security
consultative committee for the Seoul Olympics.
Roh's Nordpolitik somewhat relaxed Seoul's vehement
opposition to Tokyo's approach to P'yongyang. The Japan Socialist
Party, in particular, has become active in improving relations
not only between P'yongyang and Tokyo, but also between itself
and Seoul.
As the Japan Socialist Party abandoned its posture favoring
P'yongyang, Seoul has welcomed the new equidistant policy,
inviting a former secretary general of the Japan Socialist Party,
Ishibashi Masashi, to Seoul in October 1988. Ishibashi's visit
was unusually productive, not only in improving his party's image
in Seoul, but also in his reported willingness to mediate between
Seoul and P'yongyang. While Tokyo appeared willing to assist
Seoul in improving relations not only with P'yongyang but also
with Beijing, it did not seem to welcome the much-improved
Seoul-Moscow relationship. Further, Seoul-Tokyo relations became
somewhat strained when in 1989 Tokyo began steps to improve
relations with P'yongyang.
Data as of June 1990
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