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| Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe |
By Kosuke Takahashi
Japan’s nationalist prime minister tries to ease tensions with his East Asian neighbors.
Having generated considerable turbulence in East Asia with his nationalistic policies, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to be walking back his reactionary stance on modern history—at least in public. With apparent reluctance, he promised last month to uphold the 1993 Kono Statement admitting culpability and apologizing to the “comfort women” who had been forced to provide sex services during World War II, and the 1995 Murayama Statement apologizing for Japanese colonization and wartime aggression.
These concessions paved the way for Abe to hold his first formal talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye since the two leaders took office. The meeting was hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague on March 25. In addition to lowering the heat, in meeting Park, Abe also enabled Obama to save face as mediator.
However, any signs of diplomatic thaw with South Korea could prove ephemeral as the two nations head towards 2015, the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-South Korea relations and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Both anniversaries will require Abe to issue his own statements; his neighbors will be listening intently.
Read the full story at The Diplomat