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Korea-Japan summit: A low-key
affair
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO - Japan and South Korea are both worried
about the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program, but
the gap in their approaches to Pyongyang is unlikely to
be bridged much during this weekend's visit to Tokyo by
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun.
"President
Roh's visit is basically going to end up as another
courtesy call," said Katsuhiro Sato, head of the Modern
Korea Institute, a think-tank on issues relating to the
Korean Peninsula. "The summit is expected to pull no
major breakthrough."
Roh is to arrive in Japan
on Friday afternoon for a three-day visit. He is
scheduled to hold high-level meetings with Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi and business leaders and to
be hosted by the Japanese Emperor on Friday night. He
will address the Japanese Diet (parliament) on Monday
before leaving for Seoul.
While Japan has been
pushing for more of a carrot-and-stick approach toward
North Korea - and calls for a tougher stance have been
increasing here - South Korea is pushing for more of a
dialogue with Pyongyang under his "peace and prosperity"
policy.
The pressure has increased too in recent
days, after leaders of the Group of Eight (G8)
industrialized countries called North Korea's nuclear
program, which Pyongyang admitted to in October, a
threat to world stability. It also spoke of "taking
action if necessary" to address this problem, a call
that has rekindled fears that have been rising in recent
months, after the US-led invasion of Iraq, that North
Korea might be a potential target because of weapons of
mass destruction.
Against this backdrop, Roh's
visit is meant to try to show that dialogue is ongoing
between Japan and South Korea, both neighbors of North
Korea, despite their differences. Korean writer H K
Kang, a naturalized Japanese, said: "Roh is making the
visit to show the importance of South Korean-Japanese
ties in a time when there is mounting concern of a
confrontation with Pyongyang in the region."
In
an exclusive interview on Monday with the Yomuiri
Shinbun, Japan's largest daily, Roh said South Korea,
the United States and Japan will cooperate closely to
resolve the issue of North Korea's nuclear-weapons
program.
"When I visit Japan I want to present a
great framework of cooperation between South Korea and
Japan for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia based
on the spirit of the South Korea-Japan partnership joint
declaration five years ago," he said. But there are
increasing signs, especially after Koizumi and US
President George W Bush said they shared a desire for a
"peaceful and political resolution" to the North Korean
issue, that some politicians here think the time for
dialogue with Pyongyang is running out. Among others,
the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has begun
deliberations on a new law to impose economic sanctions
on North Korea - after reports that North Koreans in
Japan are allegedly supporting Pyongyang's nuclear
program.
Many Japanese remember all too well
North Korea's admission last year that it had kidnapped
Japanese nationals through the decades, an issue that
has long been a sore point between the two nations - and
helps shape Tokyo's attitude toward Pyongyang today.
Still, South Korea is pulling out all the stops
to get Roh's visit to focus on things other than North
Korea. High on Roh's agenda will be discussion of a
free-trade agreement between Japan and South Korea,
which Koizumi had proposed after a similar pact with
Singapore last year.
Bilateral trade remains
strong. Japan imported US$16.4 billion worth of goods
from South Korea in 2002 and South Korea is its
third-largest export market. South Korea imported $30
billion of goods from Japan during the same period.
In addition, Roh has pledged to take steps to
open his country to Japanese culture, moving farther
away from the postwar policy of controlling such imports
- a legacy of South Korea's resentment of Japan's
colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45.
Disagreement between the two countries over whether
Tokyo has officially apologized and compensated for the
harsh rule of the Japanese Imperial Army continues to
sour relations.
Other developments point to a
cold welcome for Roh. Last Saturday, fresh anti-Korean
comments by yet another senior Japanese politician
helped spoil the atmosphere at a time when analysts say
Japan and South Korea should be trying to build an
alliance against North Korea.
Taro Aso, chairman
of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research
Council, said Koreans voluntarily adopted Japanese names
during Japan's colonial rule and were not forced to do
so. His remarks drew fire from the South Korean
government as well as from opposition parties in Japan.
Later, Aso apologized to the South Korean people
for his "regrettable" remarks, conceding that his
statements could "damage the importance of Japan-South
Korea relations" prior to Roh's visit. But he did not
withdraw his remarks, saying only that "there are
various ways on both sides to understand history".
Yasuo Kurata, a commentator on international
relations, said, "Nothing can be more harmful to
bilateral ties. The remarks are a step back in dealing
with the more important issues facing both countries."
Another reason for the lack of enthusiasm for
this week's summit is Roh's weak political base in South
Korea, just months after assuming office in February.
Roh, whose party is a minority in the Millennium
Democratic Party, won the presidential election after
calling for the removal of US bases in South Korea. But
because of the North Korean issue, he now has to balance
the need to please the United States and to keep his
supporters happy.
Said Sato, "It's a pity, but
the visit is becoming just a symbolic gesture of
bilateral ties. The situation illustrates a deep divide
in East Asia and is a dilemma for the region."
(Inter Press Service)
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