Any temporary settlement of tensions will simply be triage before simmering resentment causes problems to erupt again, unless both sides, to paraphrase historian Caroline Janney, bury the dead and the past along with them.[86] On the question of history, there are few plausible solutions. The first would be to hand over responsibility for settling historical disputes to civil society groups. Numerous joint historical commissions appointed by the governments of Japan, Korea and China have stalled after years of work when the old gadfly of school textbook reform returned, and the Japanese government refused to teach the new history in schools.[87]
In contrast, civil society has proved more adept at objective scrutiny when working through deeply emotional and controversial historical topics. Indeed, a group of scholars, history teachers and history activists formed the China-Japan-Korea Common History Text Tri-National Committee to investigate historical issues.[88] Its 2005 book, A History That Opens the Future, was a runaway success and sold over 270,000 copies.[89] Japanese civil society groups like the Asian Women’s Fund have long been active in conducting historical research, collecting donations for comfort women and other groups harmed by Japanese imperialism, and promoting more historical awareness.[90] Importantly, letting civil society handle the history question allows both sides to save face by backing down while also being seen to have taken positive steps towards a settlement.
Second, both sides will need to be realistic about what is diplomatically possible at this time. South Korea must clearly define what constitutes an apology. In the past, such ambiguity has been at the core of tensions over history. Both the 1965 normalisation treaty and the 1998 apology from Japan to Korea aimed to settle historical issues but were re-opened because strong domestic constituencies rejected these accords. For example, in 2015, Abe and President Park Geun-hye agreed to set up a joint fund to compensate victims of forced prostitution during World War II and settle the issue finally and completely.[91] However, the deal proved politically unpopular for South Korean leaders. Upon assuming office in 2018, President Moon Jae-in dissolved the joint fund and pressed for a fuller apology from Japan, which Prime Minister Abe refused to give.[92]
Quite paradoxically, Moon Jae-In and other South Korean politicians made the situation worse for South Korea when they rejected Shinzo Abe’s 2015 deal with President Park. With Abe’s deal now dead in the water, many in Japan’s dominant right-wing parties may simply lose the appetite to settle historical issues. Not only would the deal expend more political capital but Korea’s repudiation of the 2015 deal seemed to confirm the fears of many in the Japanese rightwing, and the public, that Korea cannot be trusted to keep to a final historical settlement. As former Communications Minister Shindo Yoshitaka pithily asked, how could Japan negotiate with a country that “doesn’t just move the goalposts but destroys the goal itself.” [93]
While the problem may be seemingly intractable, Korea and Japan are far from being the only nations to share complicated and emotionally charged legacies. Europe was once characterised by many such contentious relationships that led to centuries of conflict. Today, Europe stands as an example of how history does not need to determine the future.
About the Author
Shashank Mattoo is a graduate student at the University of Cambridge and research intern at ORF.
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Endnotes
[1]Andrew Gordon, A Modern History Of Japan, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002)
[2]Gordon. A Modern History Of Japan. p. 75
[3]Gordon. A Modern History Of Japan.p. 122
[4]Gordon. A Modern History Of Japan. p.154
[5]Gordon. A Modern History Of Japan. p.121
[6] Michael Lewis. ‘History Wars’ And Reconciliation In Japan And Korea, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017)
[7]Lewis. ‘History Wars’
[8]Kawase Kenji. “Japan-South Korea Dispute Has Roots in 1965 Postwar Agreement.” Nikkei Asia, Nikkei Asia, 31 July 2019, asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/The-Big-Story/Japan-South-Korea-dispute-has-roots-in-1965-postwar-agreement.
[9]Kawase, Kenji. “Japan-South Korea Dispute Has Roots in 1965 Postwar Agreement.”
[10]Kawase, Kenji. “Japan-South Korea Dispute Has Roots in 1965 Postwar Agreement.”
[11]Lewis. ‘History Wars’. P.5
[12]Lewis ‘History Wars’. P.6
[13]Lewis. ‘History Wars’. P.6
[14]Lewis. ‘History Wars’. P.6
[15]Lewis. ‘History Wars’. P.7
[16]Lewis. ‘History Wars’. P.7
[17] Shin Kawashima. 2020. “The East Asian Textbook Issue”. Nippon.Com. https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a00702/.
[18]Kawashima “The East Asian Textbook Issue.”
[19]Kawashima “The East Asian Textbook Issue.”
[20]Richard McGregor. Asia’s Reckoning: China, Japan, And The Fate Of U.S. Power In The Pacific Century. (Penguin Books, 2018)
[21]McGregor. Asia’s Reckoning.
[22]McGregor.Asia’s Reckoning.
[23]Lewis. ‘History Wars’.
[24]McGregor. Asia’s Reckoning.
[25]McGregor. Asia’s Reckoning.
[26]William Choong. 2020. “The Breakdown In Japan-South Korea Relations”. Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2020: Key Developments And Trends. International Institute for Strategic Studies. pp. 87–102.
[27]McGregor. Asia’s Reckoning.
[28]Krista Weigand. “The South Korean–Japanese Security Relationship And The Dokdo/Takeshima Islets Dispute”. The Pacific Review 28 (3): 347-366. (2015)
[29]Wiegand. “The South Korean–Japanese Security Relationship and the Dokdo/Takeshima Islets Dispute.”
[30]Wiegand. “The South Korean–Japanese Security Relationship and the Dokdo/Takeshima Islets Dispute.”
[31]Wiegand “The South Korean–Japanese Security Relationship and the Dokdo/Takeshima Islets Dispute.”
[32]Min Seong-jae. “Roh Sees ‘Diplomatic War’ With Japan”. Korea Joongang Daily, 2005. http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2545753.
[33] Jim Frederick. “Rocky Relations”. TIME, , 2006. http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1189390,00.html.
[34] Estimates on the number of comfort women forced into prostitution vary. Historian Bruce Cummings estimated that somewhere between 100,000 to 200,000 Korean women were coerced into the sex trade by the Imperial Japanese Army.
[35]Sonya Kuki. “The Burden Of History: The Issue Of ‘Comfort Women’ And What Japan Must Do To Move Forward”. Journal Of International Affairs.2013.
[36]Sonya Kuki. “The Burden Of History: The Issue Of ‘Comfort Women’ And What Japan Must Do To Move Forward”.
[37]Sonya Kuki. “The Burden Of History: The Issue Of ‘Comfort Women’ And What Japan Must Do To Move Forward”.
[38]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[39]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[40]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[41]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[42] Nana Shibata . “South Korean boycott hammers sales of Japanese consumer goods.” Nikkei Asia. 2 August 2020.https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-trends/South-Korean-boycott-hammers-sales-of-Japanese-consumer-goods
[43] Nana Shibata,. “South Korean boycott hammers sales of Japanese consumer goods.”
[44]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[45]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[46]Lewis ‘History Wars’. P.1
[47]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[48]Wiegand. “The South Korean–Japanese Security Relationship and the Dokdo/Takeshima Islets Dispute.”
[49]Wiegand. “The South Korean–Japanese Security Relationship and the Dokdo/Takeshima Islets Dispute.”
[50]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[51]Wiegand. “The South Korean–Japanese Security Relationship and the Dokdo/Takeshima Islets Dispute.”
[52]Ben Westcott. “Warplanes From Four Countries Face Off In Asian Confrontation”. CNN. 2019 https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/23/asia/south-korea-russia-military-intl-hnk/index.html.
[53]Westcott.”Warplanes From Four Countries Face Off In Asian Confrontation”
[54]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[55]Choong.“The Breakdown in Japan-South Korea Relations.”
[56] Rozman, Gilbert. Asia’s Alliance Triangle: US-Japan-South Korea Relations at a Tumultuous Time. (Palgrave Macmillan:2005)
[57] “North Korea’s Missile and Nuclear Programme.” BBC News, 12 Oct. 2020, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41174689.
[58]“North Korea’s Missile and Nuclear Programme.” BBC News, BBC, 12 Oct. 2020, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41174689.
[59]Jina Kim. “Korea Net Assessment 2020: Politicized Security and Unchanging Strategic Realities”.2020. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
[60]Jina Kim. “Korea Net Assessment 2020”
[61]Jina Kim. “Korea Net Assessment 2020”
[62]Jina Kim. “Korea Net Assessment 2020”
[63]“[Dandog] Jinan 3 Nyeongan Oegug Gunham-Ui Uli Suyeog Chimbeom Hoes-Suneun 602 Hoe … 505 Hoega Jung-Gug Gunham Sohaeng“. Monthly.Chosun.Com. 2019.
[64]Jina Kim. “Korea Net Assessment 2020”
[65] “China Establishes ‘Air-Defence Zone’ Over East China Sea“. BBC News. 2019.
[66]“China Establishes ‘Air-Defence Zone’ Over East China Sea“. BBC News. 2019.
[67]Jina Kim. “Korea Net Assessment 2020”
[68]Jina Kim . “Korea Net Assessment 2020”
[69]Gilbert Rozman. Asia’s Alliance Triangle: US-Japan-South Korea Relations at a Tumultuous Time. (Palgrave Macmillan:2015)
[70] Gilbert Rozman. Asia’s Alliance Triangle: US-Japan-South Korea Relations at a Tumultuous Time.
[71]Gilbert Rozman. Asia’s Alliance Triangle: US-Japan-South Korea Relations at a Tumultuous Time.
[72]Gilbert Rozman. Asia’s Alliance Triangle: US-Japan-South Korea Relations at a Tumultuous Time.
[73]Gilbert Rozman. Asia’s Alliance Triangle: US-Japan-South Korea Relations at a Tumultuous Time.
[74]Frances Kitt. “How Would A President Moon Jae-In Approach North Korea And China?“. Lowyinstitute.Org. 2017.
[75]Kitt “How Would a President Moon Jae-in Approach North Korea and China?”
[76]Kitt “How Would a President Moon Jae-in Approach North Korea and China?”
[77]McGregor. Asia’s Reckoning.
[78]Tom Hancock. “South Korean Consumer Groups Bear Brunt of China’s Thaad Ire.” Financial Times. 2020.
[79]McGregor. Asia’s Reckoning.
[80] Aaron Mehta. “Tension between South Korea and Japan Could Hurt US Goals in the Pacific – and China Is Watching”. Defense News, 2019.
[81]Rozman. Asia’s Alliance Triangle: US-Japan-South Korea Relations at a Tumultuous Time.
[82] “Committed to Upholding Free, Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific: Jaishankar Pokes China at Quad Meet”. The New Indian Express. 7 Oct. 2020.
[83] “Committed to Upholding Free, Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific: Jaishankar Pokes China at Quad Meet.” The New Indian Express.
[84] “Committed to Upholding Free, Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific: Jaishankar Pokes China at Quad Meet.” The New Indian Express.
[85]Saurabh Todi. “India Gets Serious About the Indo-Pacific.” – The Diplomat. 2019. thediplomat.com/2019/12/india-gets-serious-about-the-indo-pacific/.
[86] Caroline Janney. “Burying The Dead But Not The Past”. (University of North Carolina Press: 2008).
[87]Lewis. ‘History Wars’.
[88]Lewis ‘History Wars’.
[89]Lewis ‘History Wars’.
[90]Lewis. ‘History Wars’.
[91]“Japan and South Korea Agree WW2 ‘Comfort Women’ Deal”, BBC News, 28 Dec. 2015.
[92] “South Korea and Japan’s Feud Explained”. BBC News, 2 Dec. 2019.
[93]Robin Harding. “Divided by History: Why Japan-South Korea Ties Have Soured”. Financial Times. 2019.