Despite their historic disputes related to the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula, the two allies of the United States are relaunching their relations to deal with the threat from North Korea and that of China. In Tokyo, observers wonder if this rapprochement between Seoul and Tokyo can last.
The meeting on Sunday May 7 in Seoul between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol confirms the spectacular rapprochement between Japan and South Korea.
It comes after the South Korean president’s trip to Tokyo in March. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is behind this rapprochement. He believes that the two countries are condemned to agree to counter a North Korea equipped with atomic weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. To face a China determined to become the dominant power in Asia.
Their strategic interests converge with those of their American ally. Which strengthens its defense system in Japan, the Korean peninsula and the Philippines. In a conflict between China and Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines would be directly involved. For the South Korean president, ” the question of Taiwan is like the question of North Korea, is a global question “.
Skeptical Japanese and Koreans
The rapprochement orchestrated by the South Korean head of state with Japan is courageous. Because it is not shared by the majority of Koreans who do not forget their painful past with Japan.
The Japanese fear that this reconciliation with South Korea is a victim of the alternation in power in Seoul. The current president is a conservative. The right is in favor of rapprochement with Japan. The left always defeats the agreements negotiated with Japan.
Source: RFI