Summary
South Korea has suspended some military and cultural ties with Japan over Tokyo's refusal to amend or scrap a controversial history textbook. Seoul's reaction runs deeper than just anger over the textbook or a sense of nationalism. The South Korean government harbors a deep-seated fear that Japan's remilitarization will once again find Korea caught between two military competitors: China and Japan.
Analysis
On July 12, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense canceled a visit to Japan by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The ministry also canceled a port call by two vessels from Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force planned for September. On the same day, South Korea's Ministry of Culture and Tourism suspended plans to further open South Korean markets to Japanese cultural exports, including animated movies and pop songs.
The suspension of military and cultural ties came after Tokyo said July 9 it would revise only two of 35 contested passages in a Japanese middle-school textbook that Seoul says downplays Japan's wartime aggression in the 20th century.
Differing interpretations of history are only part of the issue, however. Underlying Seoul's campaign to get the textbook changed is a deeper concern that Japan's rising nationalism and remilitarization will place it on a collision course with China - with South Korea caught once again in the middle.
Historical animosities run deep between Japan and South Korea, spanning centuries before Japan's 1910 annexation of the Korean peninsula. It was not until the 1990s that relations between the two neighbors improved.
In 1998, then-Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi sent a written apology for Japan's past actions to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, who had pledged to improve relations with Tokyo. South Korea responded positively by easing restrictions on the import of Japanese cultural materials.
But relations cooled again in April 2001, when the Japanese Education Ministry endorsed the controversial draft textbook over strong protests from Seoul and Beijing. The South Koreans and Chinese argued the text was revisionist and glorified Japan's imperialist past. Shortly after Tokyo decided not to block the textbook, Seoul recalled its ambassador for nine days of consultations.
In May, Seoul postponed joint military maritime rescue exercises that had been held biannually since August 1999, and in June the government formally requested Tokyo change 35 passages of the text.
Tokyo's decision in July to change only two passages triggered a strong response from Kim, who said Seoul could not condone the decision. He then refused to meet envoys from Japan's ruling coalition in Seoul to discuss the textbook issue.
Despite earlier signs that Seoul might have toned down its anti-textbook campaign, when current Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in April, it reignited Seoul's determination to pressure Tokyo.
This highlights the underlying reason for Seoul's adamancy, short-term losses in political or economic ties notwithstanding. The South Korean minister for naval affairs and fisheries, Chung Woo Taik, commenting on a fisheries dispute between the countries, said "[Koizumi's] Cabinet is shifting towards right-wing views, towards imperialism," ITAR-Tass reported July 11.
Seoul dreads a return to the era in East Asia's past when Japanese imperialism dominated the region. The South Korean government deeply mistrusts Koizumi's attempts to stir Japanese nationalism, revise the constitution and move toward the remilitarization of Japan. Seoul is not directly threatened by Japan, but instead fears Japan's actions will prompt a response from China and revive traditional animosities.
Beijing already has cautioned that Japan's latest defense white paper, which claims China's military exceeds defensive needs, does little to improve "trust in the field of military security," according to Xinhua News Agency.
Calling the textbook "an arson on history," Chinese President Jiang Zemin told visiting Japanese officials that the controversy "will induce a serious explosion," South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported.
For South Korea, there is a pressing fear of once again becoming a minnow between two whales. Through its furor over the textbook, Seoul is warning Japan that moves toward reviving its expansionist past will threaten peace and stability throughout Northeast Asia.
South Korea has suspended some military and cultural ties with Japan over Tokyo's refusal to amend or scrap a controversial history textbook. Seoul's reaction runs deeper than just anger over the textbook or a sense of nationalism. The South Korean government harbors a deep-seated fear that Japan's remilitarization will once again find Korea caught between two military competitors: China and Japan.
Analysis
On July 12, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense canceled a visit to Japan by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The ministry also canceled a port call by two vessels from Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force planned for September. On the same day, South Korea's Ministry of Culture and Tourism suspended plans to further open South Korean markets to Japanese cultural exports, including animated movies and pop songs.
The suspension of military and cultural ties came after Tokyo said July 9 it would revise only two of 35 contested passages in a Japanese middle-school textbook that Seoul says downplays Japan's wartime aggression in the 20th century.
Differing interpretations of history are only part of the issue, however. Underlying Seoul's campaign to get the textbook changed is a deeper concern that Japan's rising nationalism and remilitarization will place it on a collision course with China - with South Korea caught once again in the middle.
Historical animosities run deep between Japan and South Korea, spanning centuries before Japan's 1910 annexation of the Korean peninsula. It was not until the 1990s that relations between the two neighbors improved.
In 1998, then-Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi sent a written apology for Japan's past actions to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung, who had pledged to improve relations with Tokyo. South Korea responded positively by easing restrictions on the import of Japanese cultural materials.
But relations cooled again in April 2001, when the Japanese Education Ministry endorsed the controversial draft textbook over strong protests from Seoul and Beijing. The South Koreans and Chinese argued the text was revisionist and glorified Japan's imperialist past. Shortly after Tokyo decided not to block the textbook, Seoul recalled its ambassador for nine days of consultations.
In May, Seoul postponed joint military maritime rescue exercises that had been held biannually since August 1999, and in June the government formally requested Tokyo change 35 passages of the text.
Tokyo's decision in July to change only two passages triggered a strong response from Kim, who said Seoul could not condone the decision. He then refused to meet envoys from Japan's ruling coalition in Seoul to discuss the textbook issue.
Despite earlier signs that Seoul might have toned down its anti-textbook campaign, when current Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in April, it reignited Seoul's determination to pressure Tokyo.
This highlights the underlying reason for Seoul's adamancy, short-term losses in political or economic ties notwithstanding. The South Korean minister for naval affairs and fisheries, Chung Woo Taik, commenting on a fisheries dispute between the countries, said "[Koizumi's] Cabinet is shifting towards right-wing views, towards imperialism," ITAR-Tass reported July 11.
Seoul dreads a return to the era in East Asia's past when Japanese imperialism dominated the region. The South Korean government deeply mistrusts Koizumi's attempts to stir Japanese nationalism, revise the constitution and move toward the remilitarization of Japan. Seoul is not directly threatened by Japan, but instead fears Japan's actions will prompt a response from China and revive traditional animosities.
Beijing already has cautioned that Japan's latest defense white paper, which claims China's military exceeds defensive needs, does little to improve "trust in the field of military security," according to Xinhua News Agency.
Calling the textbook "an arson on history," Chinese President Jiang Zemin told visiting Japanese officials that the controversy "will induce a serious explosion," South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported.
For South Korea, there is a pressing fear of once again becoming a minnow between two whales. Through its furor over the textbook, Seoul is warning Japan that moves toward reviving its expansionist past will threaten peace and stability throughout Northeast Asia.
