The relationship between Japan and South Korea plunged into a chilly state following then South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's visit to disputed Takeshima Island in the Sea of Japan in August 2012. The policies of his successor, Ms. Park Geun-hye, have not led to an improvement in the situation. Bilateral ties are said to be the worst since the two countries normalized diplomatic relations in 1965.
To change this situation, both Ms. Park and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe need to have a heart-to-heart talk. The fact that the two leaders have yet to hold a summit meeting and that there is no prospect for such a meeting being held within this year is odd, to say the least.
One reason for the chilly ties is Mr. Abe’s views on such issues as Korean “comfort women” who were forced to provide sex to members of the Imperial Japanese armed forces during World War II, the definition of aggression, and the Murayama Statement in which Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized on Aug. 15, 1995, to Asian peoples for Japan’s past colonialism and military aggression. Mr. Abe's statements have confirmed suspicions that he is a revisionist on these important bilateral issues.
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