By Clint Richards
Low-level, non-vital issues continue to hold meaningful dialogue just out of reach.
Japan and South Korea are in the midst of negotiating important security and economic issues, as diplomatic relations have begun to thaw in recent months. Their cooperation in these two vital areas has stagnated since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power in late 2012, and particularly since he visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in December 2013. While he has yet to meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Seoul appears to be warming to the idea. However, there are a few issues of a non-vital, domestic nature on both sides that could derail this emerging movement toward reconciliation.
After last week’s first meeting of both countries’ vice foreign ministers since Park took office and Seoul’s statement of hope that their relationship could begin to develop next year, movement was made on the defense front as well. A South Korean defense official told the press on Monday that “South Korean Vice Defense Minister Baek Seung-joo and Japan’s Hideshi Tokuchi, vice defense minister for international affairs, will hold talks in Seoul on October 29.” The two will meet on the sidelines of the Seoul Defense Dialogue, a regional security forum for vice-ministerial level officials, and according to the Jiji Press are expected to discuss Japan’s reinterpretation of its constitutional ban on collective self-defense as well as North Korea’s persistent nuclear and ballistic missile programs. More importantly for bilateral ties, “The Japanese side is expected to call for the swift conclusion of a bilateral agreement on military information security.” Japan is also seeking a similar agreement with their mutual ally and security guarantor, the U.S.
On the economic front, both sides agreed on Friday in Washington to restart talks on financial issues, at a meeting between South Korea’s Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso. While the two had a chance to speak at the G20 Summit in Cairns in late September, this was their first official bilateral meeting of finance ministers in 23 months. The meeting was intended to increase the exchange of finance officials, while “dialogue between their fiscal authorities about economic and financial cooperation is expected to be resumed for the first time since November 2012.” Japan again pressed its case for a summit of the two countries’ leaders, which Tokyo is hoping will happen at the upcoming APEC Summit in Beijing, with Aso stating “we will pave the way for the two sides to consider it.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat