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\u003cp\u003eAbout two years ago, while chairing a panel discussion on Asia-Pacific security, I made a comment about how an agreement between the United States, Japan and South Korea on sharing \u003ca href=\u0022http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3022178/collapse-intelligence-pact-between-us-south-korea-and-japan\u0022\u003eintelligence\u003c/a\u003e about North Korea was a net positive for the region.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe discussion ended, and as scholars are wont to do, I ambled out of the room for a well-deserved coffee break. I was approached by a South Korean naval officer, who told me his minister would like to have a word.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSurrounded by a phalanx of officers, the minister gave me more than a word. He told me the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was more about enhancing cooperation with the US, not Japan. The deal had been made on intelligence sharing among the three allies, and not due to any amity with Japan.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe minister\u0026rsquo;s comments underscore the depth of South Korean resentment against Japan, particularly over its colonisation of South Korea.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecently, the US\u0026rsquo; top allies in Asia have seen their bilateral relationship go into a tailspin. Earlier this month, Japan \u003ca href=\u0022http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3022495/south-korea-removes-japan-preferred-trade-list-tit-tat-move\u0022\u003eremoved\u003c/a\u003e South Korea from a list of countries with preferential trade status. This drew swift retaliation from Seoul, which removed Tokyo from a similar list. The coup de gr\u0026acirc;ce was delivered last Thursday when South Korea \u003ca href=\u0022http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3023944/south-korea-terminates-intelligence-sharing-pact-japan\u0022\u003eended\u003c/a\u003e GSOMIA.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe latest row between the two countries was triggered by a South Korean court decision allowing individuals to sue Japanese companies for compensation for wartime forced labour.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe US has understandably sought to mediate between its two allies, for the strategic rationale for reconciliation is ironclad. With the rise of China, the US needs to rope in like-minded allies to counterbalance China\u0026rsquo;s assertive behaviour. Japan and South Korea are seen as building blocks of the US\u0026rsquo; newfangled \u003ca href=\u0022http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3012010/united-states-about-ramp-its-indo-pacific-strategy-contain\u0022\u003eIndo-Pacific strategy\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGSOMIA was signed in 2016 to share intelligence about North Korea\u0026rsquo;s nuclear activities among the three allies. In any North Korea contingency, the US, with the help of the South Korean and Japanese navies, will work on areas such as \u003ca href=\u0022http://scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2118499/why-south-koreas-promises-thaad-and-us-japan-alliance\u0022\u003emissile defence\u003c/a\u003e, anti-submarine warfare and mine warfare.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEven if President Donald Trump gets North Korea to roll back its long-range missile programme, both South Korea and Japan will be held hostage to the North\u0026rsquo;s arsenal of shorter-range missiles.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is creditable that both Tokyo and Seoul have sought to mend fences. Recently, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe \u003ca href=\u0022https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3022854/japanese-pm-shinzo-abe-sends-offering-controversial-yasukuni\u0022\u003esent\u003c/a\u003e his customary offering to the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, thus avoiding a more provocative visit. President Moon Jae-in softened his criticism of Japan and said he would welcome an invitation to dialogue.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth countries need to go further, however. The trade spat does not lie at the heart of the dispute; rather, intractable issues of history and honour do. Even if they resolve the current dispute, the two allies are always going to be one comment or altercation away from another diplomatic fracas.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnimosity towards Japan is ingrained among South Korea\u0026rsquo;s policymaking elite. A US Forces Korea official told me that, during a meeting about South Korean-US military plans for a North Korea contingency, he was flummoxed by a South Korean general who said Seoul\u0026rsquo;s biggest enemy was not Pyongyang but the country east across the East China Sea. In 2013, a senior Japanese official said Tokyo was \u0026ldquo;sick and tired\u0026rdquo; of Seoul, which he labelled a \u0026ldquo;single-issue activist\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReconciliation is not rocket science. Both sides need to affirm the strategic rationale for their relationship. Japan has tightened export controls on three chemicals that are critical to South Korea\u0026rsquo;s semiconductor industry on the grounds that Seoul could leak sensitive information to Pyongyang. It needs to provide solid evidence of this.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth countries need to review the removal of each other from favoured-nation trading lists. This will provide a solid basis for Seoul to consider renewing GSOMIA again.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the long term, what is needed is a mix of forgiveness and acts of genuine contrition. As Thomas Berger and Bong Youngshik note in a 2012 paper, reconciliation will involve Japan adopting a strong stance of apologising for past transgressions, and more importantly, backing it up with commemoration, education and compensation for groups of victims, including surviving \u003ca href=\u0022https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2011830/ex-wartime-comfort-women-sue-south-korea-over-deal-japan\u0022\u003ecomfort women\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSouth Korea will need to show Japan that such a penitent stance will have a positive and lasting impact on bilateral relations, and that it will work with Tokyo to manage the reconciliation process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn South Korea\u0026rsquo;s case, forgiveness might feel like it is becoming soft on Japan in the hurly-burly of international relations. But acts of national forgiveness can help break the cycles of hate that go on for decades, even centuries. In Seoul\u0026rsquo;s case, forgiveness is necessary for national interest. Unforgiveness, it has been said, is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not that Japan has not made statements of apology or remorse in the past. But these statements have been undone by subsequent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, and Abe has failed to censure ministers for making revisionist comments on issues of history.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eReconciliation between Japan and South Korea is not only necessary; it is critical at a time when the regional order underpinned by US power and leadership is unravelling.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn The Gulag Archipelago, Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn quotes a proverb: \u0026ldquo;Dwell on the past and you\u0027ll lose an eye; forget the past and you\u0026rsquo;ll lose both eyes.\u0026rdquo; It is a piece of wisdom worth reflecting on.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis article was first published in \u003ca href=\u0022http://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3024405/south-korea-and-japan-must-break-cycle-hate-and-move-regions-good\u0022\u003eSouth China Morning Post\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","className":"richtext reading--content font-secondary"}), document.getElementById("react_GnCql1q7EmXodSHORUJw"))});
Tokyo and Seoul have sought to resolve their latest dispute, but they need to address deep-rooted issues that threaten the strategic balance of the region. One side needs to show genuine contrition and the other side needs to forgive, writes William Choong.
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