By Stefan Soesanto
Important symbolic gestures by Germany (and its neighbors) helped repair relations, and are an example for East Asia.
It was a great photo-op earlier this month, when Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se held their first direct talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei. But any goodwill arising from that meeting is overwhelmed by the rapid deterioration in bilateral relations between Tokyo and Seoul in recent months. Issues officially considered resolved, such as the forced prostitution of thousands of sex slaves across East Asia or the visits by Japanese government officials at the Yasukuni shrine, have reopened wounds all over again.
Deep rooted nationalistic sentiment in both countries threatens to undermine decades of political efforts to normalize ties. So how can these two proud nations overcome their historical differences when all efforts to date appear to have failed?
Relations between Tokyo and Seoul began to sour two months after South Korean President Park Geun-hye took office. In late April, 168 Japanese Diet members and several government officials decided to visit the controversial Yasukuni shrine, prompting Seoul to abruptly cancel ministerial meetings with Japan. Matters deteriorated when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe questioned the definition of aggression in the Murayama Statement of 1995, and reaffirmed one week later his goal to revise the Japanese Constitution. Comments by Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto in early May,defending Japan's use of comfort women during World War II, and Abe's appearance in a jet fighter with the notorious number 731 put even greater pressure on the bilateral relationship.
South Korean media outlets responded with aggressive anti-Japanese rhetoric, grieving the missed opportunity to prosecute Emperor Hirohito for crimes against humanity, ridiculing Abe's drive to abolish the Peace Constitution, and arguing that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were divine punishment. Meanwhile, Park's remark in Washington that Japan needs to have a correct perception on history fundamentally failed to understand the deep rift.
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