{"id":5396,"date":"2022-09-22T22:28:57","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T02:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/?p=5396"},"modified":"2022-10-18T01:29:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T05:29:16","slug":"s-korea-japan-hold-first-bilateral-talks-since-2019-seek-stronger-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/2022\/09\/22\/s-korea-japan-hold-first-bilateral-talks-since-2019-seek-stronger-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"S.Korea, Japan hold first bilateral talks since 2019, seek stronger ties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/south-korean-japanese-leaders-meet-agree-need-improve-ties-yonhap-2022-09-21\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary:<\/strong> South Korea and Japan are having their leaders talk for the first time since 2019. The history of South Korea as a colony of Japan in the early 1900s has held South Korea back from seeking true friendship with the Japanese. However, the increasing tensions with the newly nuclearized North Korea and its missile tests have made both countries come to the table for strategic cooperation. President Yoon of South Korea’s deputy spokesperson, Lee Jae-myoung, states that there is fear among both leaders that North Korea has resumed nuclear testing after a few years of hiatus since 2017. However, relations are tense as South Korea has levied court orders against Japanese companies to seize assets as reparations for their colonial-era workers. Tokyo claims they had given reparations in 1965 with the treaty that normalized relations between the two countries. Japan has threatened grave action against South Korea if such court orders are enforced. South Korea is attempting to find a solution that appeases both the victims’ group and the Japanese government. But, that effort has come up short as the victims’ group has refused to attend meetings regarding the matter.

Analysis:<\/strong> The article is significant as it highlights that history still plays a large role in geopolitics. South Korea has natural reservations regarding associating with Japan, as their longtime rivalry and South Korea’s former status as a colony of Japan have historically held back relations. Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910 and was horrifically exploited for labor during the Japanese occupation. Over two million South Koreans were forced into labor during the Second Sino-Japanese War, an eventual subset of World War II. South Korea doesn’t believe Japan has given proper reparations to the families and descendants of those forced into labor, which has strained their relationship during a vital time of geopolitics. This history may hold back full cooperation between the two countries, which may harm the ability of either country to contain North Korea. However, If both correct their transgressions, it would create a strong barrier against North Korean aggression. But at the cost of only further polarizing North Korea away from South Korea, which is already seen as a “western puppet” by its government and people.

Connection to Class<\/strong>: The Koreans used to be part of a former stateless nation during Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945. Once Korea was liberated, it split into two states, North and South. This event made Korea go from a situation of statelessness to becoming a multi-state nation, where the Korean ethnic group made up a predominant majority in both Koreas. The rivalry between North and South Korea has pushed the south back to Japan. However, this doesn’t come without debate, as many South Korean citizens are descendants of those abused during Japanese rule and have pushed back against easing relations with Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/south-korean-japanese-leaders-meet-agree-need-improve-ties-yonhap-2022-09-21\/ Summary: South Korea and Japan are having their leaders talk for the first time since 2019. The history of South Korea as a colony of Japan in the early 1900s has held South Korea back from seeking true friendship with the Japanese. However, the increasing tensions with the newly nuclearized North Korea and its missile tests have made both… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/232"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5396"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5418,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5396\/revisions\/5418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}