politics

Kishida heads to Seoul as ties warm over North Korea threat

26 Comments
By Sunghee Hwang

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26 Comments
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Good photo.

Doesn&t seem staged at all.

Agree with Badmoonrising!

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Seoul this weekend as the two countries seek to bury historical animosities and reboot their relationship in the face of a growing threat from North Korea.

The two-day trip starting Sunday will be the first official bilateral visit to Seoul by a Japanese leader for over a decade.

Excellent news…(!)

..

But Yoon, who took office last year, has sought to bury the historical hatchet, …

Intelligence and political courage…; what a powerful combination…; finally, SK, finally…;

..

[ "The Korea-Japan relationship is known as the weakest link in the trilateral cooperation with the United States," said Choi Eunmi, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. "So when this part is strengthened, it can eventually advance into proper South Korea-US-Japan cooperation."

The United States and South Korea have in turn been ramping up their defense cooperation, staging a series of major military exercises including two trilateral drills involving Japan this year.

But they are eager to do more. At their summit last month, Biden and Yoon issued the Washington Declaration, which bolsters the U.S. nuclear umbrella over South Korea, and they vowed to speed up trilateral cooperation with Japan. ]

Three great nations trying to make the world a better place…; how cool is that(!)

:)

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Kishida, from Hiroshima, probably hasn’t read the news that SK wants its own nukes. He publically calls for denuclearization.

-11 ( +2 / -13 )

Nice if it holds up.

Sadly, past history shows that left or right, male or female, anti communist or "sunshine", Korean pols have one move when they get in a domestic bind, blame Japan.

Lets see if this one breaks the mold and acts in S. Korean national security interests instead of Japan bashing at the first opportunity.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

I wonder if NK expected such an outcome? I suspect they didn't...

6 ( +8 / -2 )

NK know we are both under American control. They also know Japan has a slight problem with Article 9, but Kishida is working on it.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Article 9 even as it is now does not prevent Japan from defending itself at all.

SK has backed dowm from having it's own nukes. Both SK and Japan are covered by the US nuclear umbrella.

It's past questioning if Pres Yoon will be successful. He already. He has the full backing of the US and Japan, and his only concern is his domestic political adversaries.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I wish Yoon and Kishida all the best in the meeting. It's about time that the relationship between the two countries be mended. The young people of both countries value and respect each others culture!

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Nothing like a little pragmatism and optimism to bring out the fringes.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Nothing brings people together like a common threat.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

An example of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Or not ...

President Yoon Suk Yeol has been criticized by both the right and the left in Korea with regards to his apparent pro-Japan policy, which I see as his pragmatic way of countering the threat from North Korea. In other words, he's looking at the bigger picture and the best interest of his country.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is a centrist and a moderate, and I think that's why it was possible for him and his Korean counterpart to come to terms. Having a PM who is head of the relatively dovish Kochikai faction of the LDP makes it more palatable, I think.

Will this detente last? I hope so. But I've no doubt it will be challenging. Continuing animosity between Japan and South Korea will only benefit North Korea and China.

In any case, 열심히!, 頑張って!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

SK and Japan are covered by the US nuclear umbrella

This is the problem. These are US controlled nukes. Maybe fine now, but what if the next US president turns mad, just like Putin? Then, what will we do?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Glad to see finally South Korea and Japan having friendly talks.

I dare to say that everything can be solved in front of a good pint.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I echo what Xavier says above. Nobody apart from MK, China and Russia will be wishing anything else but better relations between Japan and South Korea.

Let's hope NATO (if they don't already), open an office in Seoul too.

The BRICS economic block (actually BICS now since Russia is slowly becoming a third world Autocratic cesspit) has no hope of growing further as countries like Japan and Korea repair their relationships.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

What a nice photo rarely seen between 2 heads of governement.

The two countries' history and ties deserve that kind of level of connection.

It reminds when I was going to SK from Japan and sharing with my SK colleagues since at that time in charge of SK/JPN area. So nice memories. I wish they can discuss history often and move ahead.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Trouble usually starts when alcohol is involved. I suggest on this occasion it was very limited.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Good they're together, now they need to build STRONG DETERENT together with US Support. Why?

1) Russian Weapons Proliferation - NEW NORM

2) No Defense Exists, just Mitigation - with WMDs Useless

That's it for today, please enjoy GW!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

 I wish they can discuss history often and move ahead.

Indeed, funny how WORST Geopolitical Situation since WWII, causing massive collateral damage like inflation, starvation, malnutrition, weapons/WMD proliferation by Russia at unprecedented level to NK etc., all acted to bring these TWO TOGETHER.

While not an OFFSET to above, clearly Bonus Dividend, bigger FISH TO FRY, best that they Cooperate to do so!

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Please refrain from using so many capital letters.

FredrikToday  12:25 pm JST

*SK and Japan are covered by the US nuclear umbrella*

This is the problem. These are US controlled nukes. Maybe fine now, but what if the next US president turns mad, just like Putin? Then, what will we do?

We got rid of him. He's too busy with multiple legal issues to come back.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The problem is that the majority of Koreans do not want it, and more than half of the Japanese believe that this reconciliation is only a sham and will not last long.

A country whose foreign policy changes in the opposite direction when the president changes cannot be trusted.

Can you trust a country that can void any treaty or interstate pact if it becomes the next president?

South and North Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, democratization has failed in all countries. The United States should admit that Japan was the only country that was able to truly democratize, and that attempts to do the same in other countries would fail.

In Asia, I think the United States should join hands with Japan, Taiwan, ASEAN, and India, and should keep a distance from China and Korea.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Why not these two leaders try to BUILD bridges to NK, especially Food and Energy Security?!

BETTER path than continued Military Escalation, find pathways to Peace and Prosperity in the region!

Japan and South Korea NEED more Agricultural Support, as all domestic farmers disappearing fast. NK easily could become Important Productive Food Producer.

Let's imagine BETTER World based on Win:Win Solutions!

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

The United States should admit that Japan was the only country that was able to truly democratize, and that attempts to do the same in other countries would fail.

Bingo! Let's CUT this DANGEROUS democracy agenda and go pragmatic, like my NK food producer idea above. Why always pursue destabilizing others? Crazy.

Perfection's enemy of progress, countries can manage themselves just fine, especially if they have ample food & energy to better ensure their security and human rights.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

The young people from both countries don't have the same buy-in to the historical animosities that the older folk do, so attitudes and relations between the nations are going to keep improving as they old folk steadily disappear. That's a good thing, because those attitudes have strongly contributed to these two nations being unable to put the past behind them and experience better bi-lateral relations.

Japan and South Korea are the two cultural powerhouses of the East and they compliment each other nicely. I hope this continues.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Young Koreans who were brought up with an anti-Japanese education are more hostile to Japan, and there was an incident in which an old man who knew the Japanese colonial era was beaten to death when he said, "It was better during the Japanese colonial period." (2013, May)

The old people who know the truth keep their mouths shut, and the young people who don't know the era of rule are turning against Japan through fantasy history education.

Which of the candidates is more anti-Japanese in the election? Korea is the only country that is competing with us.

You can imagine what the Japanese think of Koreans who cannot forget the past and repeatedly demand apologies and compensation from Japan for all the incidents that have been made up.

Even without South Korea, Japan would only see a slight decline in its trade balance, and it would be enough to find new export destinations.

What South Korea should do is return Takeshima, which it invaded, compensate and apologize to the bereaved families of the victims, and apologize for the comfort women issue that has been made up since the 1990s and recent forced laborers. In addition to that, there are many other things that must be done, such as the return of stolen Buddhist statues that have been disregarded by UNESCO conventions, the prevention of recurrence of fire control radar irradiation on Self-Defense Force aircraft, and the punishment of those responsible.

Only after that is done can diplomatic relations between the two countries start from scratch.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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