Time for stronger Seoul-Tokyo ties

October 11, 2024

SEOUL – For many young South Korean tourists, Japan is no doubt their favorite travel destination. It’s close, cheap and familiar. They can indulge in shopping or enjoy tonkatsu (fried pork chops) or ramen. Yet until recently, they didn’t publicize or brag about their trips to Japan on social media. A strong anti-Japan sentiment caused by diplomatic rows between Seoul and Tokyo kept them from doing so. But all that has changed since their leaders began to mend bilateral relations early last year. Young Koreans don’t have to hide their travels in Japan now that the two neighboring countries have become closer again.

Behind such changes are Seoul’s initial attempts at rapprochement. Since taking office two years ago, President Yoon Suk-yeol made normalized Seoul-Tokyo relations a foreign policy priority. By offering concessions on the deadlocked issues of past colonial history, he first offered an olive branch. Yoon visited Tokyo for the first Korea-Japan summit in a decade and then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida soon reciprocated. Since then, Yoon and Kishida have met 12 times as part of their “shuttle diplomacy,” the highest number of summit meetings for both leaders. At least in terms of summit diplomacy, the two countries are currently enjoying a “renaissance.”

That momentum could be furthered by the arrival of Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba. Known as a moderate conservative, he is more humble and apologetic than his predecessors when it comes to issues related to Japan’s colonial atrocities. He has often cited Japan’s responsibility for strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo. In that vein, Ishiba has refrained from visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, the memorial site for Japanese war-dead