Historical issues in Northeast Asia

Again and again, Japanese prime ministers have hesitated to go against the powerful conservative faction to offer a direct apology for Japan's colonial period.

Tokyo's economic aid to Seoul laid the foundations of a new development model – but it had a dark side as well.

For the first time in 12 years, the Japanese prime minister visited Seoul for a bilateral meeting with the South Korean president. 

Japan's Kishida and South Korea's Yoon are ready to mend relations, but both leaders face problems back home.

The Yoon administration's plan to resolve forced labor disputes with Japan is already sparking controversy at home.

Ties between the two U.S. Asian allies have long been complicated by grievances related to Japan's brutal rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Why are Japan and South Korea, both U.S. allies and East Asian democracies, continuously at odds over everything from their territorial dispute to wartime labor compensation?

Yoon emphasized his support for “freedom” in a U.N. General Assembly address, but most attention focused on the dimming chances of a summit with Japan’s Kishida Fumio. 

With tensions rising in the Indo-Pacific, Beijing’s new triumphalism takes aim at one-time ally U.S., while Washington and its regional partners embrace former foe Japan’s historical revisionism.

With relatively new governments and a pressing threat from North Korea, the timing to renew Seoul and Tokyo ties is better now than it has been in years.

The Yoon administration has expressed a strong willingness to improve bilateral ties with Japan, but Tokyo seems unwilling to budge on the central issues.