Japan-South Korean Relations

1
Japan-South Korean Relations
2
Historical Legacies

• Relations between Japan and Korea date back two
  millennia
• Cultural proximity
• Language family
• Written characters
• Confucianism
• Buddhism
• ...

3
Japanese Invasions

• 1592-1598, Japanese invasion was defeated by
  joint China-Korea forces.
• 1894-1895 war between Qing China and Japan over
  control of Korea.
• 1904-1905 war between Russia and Japan
• 1910 Japan annexed Korea

4
Japans Occupation 1910-1945

• Current historical issues
• Japanese statements of remorse for World War II
• Korean laborers during World War II
• Korean comfort women during World War II
• Yasukuni Shrine (convicted war criminals)
• ...

5
Wartime Atrocities in the Relations

• Kono Statement of 1993
• The statement, named after then Chief Cabinet
  Secretary Yohei Kono, contained a landmark
  apology to the sex slaves known euphemistically
  in Japan as comfort women.
• Murayama Statement of 1995
• Then socialist Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama
  (1994-1996) apologized for wartime suffering
  inflicted by Japan on its Asian neighbors.

6
Normalization of Relations 1965

• President Park Chung-Hee of South Korea
  established diplomatic relations with Japan.
• Economic benefits
• Resentment

7
Territorial Dispute

• Dokdo (in Korean) / Takeshima (in Japanese)
• South Korean government position
• Dokdo ... is an integral part of Korean
  territory historically, geographically, and under
  international law.
• Japanese government position
• Takeshima is clearly an inherent territory of
  Japan, in the light of historical facts and based
  upon international law.

8
Trading Partners

• South Korea is Japans
• 3rd largest export market (8)
• 6th largest source of imports (5)
• Japan is South Koreas
• 3rd largest export market (7)
• 2nd largest source of imports (12)
• Japan gt South Korea 64 billion
• South Korea gt Japan 39 billion

9
Trade and Investment
2010 2011 2012 2013
Japan-South Korea total trade growth 5.96 -4.35 10.55
Japanese investment in South Korea 1.085 billion 2.439 billion 3.996 billion 3.286 billion
South Korean investment in Japan 559 million 47 million
10
Role of US and China

• US bilateral alliances with Japan and with South
  Korea respectively
• Common concerns over North Koreas nuclear
  program and Chinas rising power
• China is the top trade partner of Japan and of
  South Korea