{"id":2203884,"date":"2024-02-19T17:20:40","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2203884"},"modified":"2024-02-20T16:39:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T07:39:47","slug":"the-yes-japan-phenomenon-faces-a-reality-check-in-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/02\/the-yes-japan-phenomenon-faces-a-reality-check-in-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u201cYes Japan\u201d phenomenon faces a reality check in South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration\u2019s quick <\/span>denial<\/span><\/a> of recent Japanese media reports about Prime Minister Fumio Kishida\u2019s <\/span>visit to South Korea<\/span><\/a> for a summit reflects a strategic balancing act between diplomatic engagement and domestic political considerations.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the Yoon administration\u2019s efforts to improve bilateral ties, including resolving disputes over the issue of compensating Korean victims of Japanese forced labor during World War II and participating in a historic <\/span>trilateral summit<\/span><\/a> at Camp David, the South Korean presidential office stated that \u201cno relevant actions are currently underway.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The notion that Kishida\u2019s visit could bolster the Yoon administration and the ruling People Power Party ahead of April\u2019s parliamentary elections, as initially <\/span>reported by Japanese media<\/span><\/a>, contrasts sharply with the ROK presidential office\u2019s response, suggesting it might see a potential summit with Kishida as a political liability rather than an opportunity to showcase its diplomatic prowess.<\/span><\/p>\n This situation spotlights the challenges both countries face in advancing their relationship amid historical grievances and evolving public sentiments, exemplified by the shift from a \u201c<\/span>No Japan<\/span><\/a>\u201d boycott to a more conciliatory \u201c<\/span>Yes Japan<\/span><\/a>\u201d trend in South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the depth of this shift and its impact on the political landscape remains to be seen. Further, patterns in the history of bilateral ROK-Japan relations suggest that boasting about Yoon\u2019s Japan policy may not be politically advantageous ahead of the election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A FAMILIAR PATTERN<\/b><\/p>\n Although the Yoon administration\u2019s diplomatic outreach to Japan perpetuates the narrative that South Korean progressives tend to worsen ties with Tokyo while conservative ones improve them, this has historically not been the case.<\/span><\/p>\n Prior to today, ROK-Japan ties were arguably at their peak during the Kim Dae-jung administration. The 1998 summit between Kim and then-Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi led to the declaration of the \u201c<\/span>New Korea-Japan Partnership toward the Twenty-First Century<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In the document, both countries declared their intent to \u201csquarely face the past and develop relations based on mutual understanding and trust.\u201d They outlined numerous areas of cooperation, despite later being undermined by disputes over the <\/span>revision of Japanese textbooks<\/span><\/a> in 2001.<\/span><\/p>\n President Lee Myung-bak made similar attempts to sidestep contentious historical issues in 2008, resulting in then-Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda attending his inauguration in Seoul.<\/span><\/p>\n Despite Lee\u2019s <\/span>promise<\/span><\/a> to refrain from raising thorny historical issues during a summit in Japan in April 2008, this period of warm ties eventually faltered due to escalating tensions over territorial disputes.<\/span><\/p>\n Seoul <\/span>recalled its ambassador to Japan<\/span><\/a> in July 2008 over the issue of sovereignty over Dokdo before Lee famously <\/span>visited the disputed islets<\/span><\/a> himself in 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n