Japan and South Korea search for elusive silver lining in bitter historical row

While Japan continues to move forward relations with the Philippines and other Asian countries that suffered its second world war brutality, Japan’s ties with South Korea remain tricky and fraught with challenges due to conflicting views on wartime history.

Talks by the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea at the weekend, and the attendance by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday yesterday at events marking 50 years since the normalisation of diplomatic ties, were hailed by Japanese officials as a step forward to advance bilateral ties.

“Being neighbours, Japan and South Korea have many concerns and problems, which is why it is important for us to hold a frank dialogue,” Abe told South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se when they met at his office during Yun’s visit to Japan.

While Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Yun agreed on Sunday during the first-in-four-year trip by South Korea’s top diplomat to set the stage for a bilateral summit, no time frame was fixed. Abe and Park have not held formal one-to-one talks since taking office in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Park has set as a precondition progress on the sensitive issue of so-called “comfort women” including Koreans who worked in wartime military brothels for the Imperial Japanese Army. These women are euphemistically known as “comfort women” in Japan.

In assessing current bilateral ties, a senior Japanese foreign ministry official said: “People have been resigned, feeling that nothing can be done.