OPINION: Japan-South Korea bonhomie a boon for India

The growing warmth between Japan and South Korea is a good sign for India, who could use this to create a coalition of democracies in Asian region. This would help the three nations achieve their common objectives of fostering "a free, open, inclusive and peaceful Indo-Pacific" and foiling the aggressive designs of any authoritarian forces in the region.

National interests are dynamic and hence, in international diplomacy, no nation is a permanent friend or foe. It is their convergence or divergence that keeps determining the substance of relationship between any two States. Relations between Japan and South Korea are no exception.

Observers say relations between Japan and South Korea have improved a lot in the recent months. During their summit in Seoul the other day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke about their shared values, human rights, rule of law and a free and open Indo-Pacific. They discussed bilateral ties as well as regional and global issues such as North Korea's ongoing nuclear-missile programme.

Prime Minister Kishida agreed to allow South Korean experts to inspect the planned release of water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant (South Korea has been concerned about its possible environmental effects). Prime Minister Kishida invited President Yoon to the Group of Seven (G7) summit set for later this month in Japan and for trilateral talks with the United States.

Today, Seoul and Tokyo are increasingly on the same page about strengthening supply chain security, resisting economic coercion and deterring unilateral uses of force in Asia. Japan and South Korea are said to be planning to link their radars, via a US system. This would provide Tokyo with real-time data to improve its capabilities to detect any missiles that North Korea may fire off against it. This would see the radar and command-and-control systems of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and US forces in Japan connected to the South Korean military and American forces, via the Hawaii-based US Indo-Pacific Command.

Historical disputes that have long soured ties between the two East Asian nations are diminishing now. In March this year, during South Korean President Yoon's trip to Tokyo, he and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida sought to close a chapter on the historical disputes. During his recent visit to Seoul, first by a Japanese leader in 12 years, Prime Minister Kishida stopped short of offering a new official apology for wrongs committed under the 1910-1945 occupation. He said, "My heart hurts when I think of the many people who endured terrible suffering and grief under the difficult circumstances of the time."

On his part, South Korean President Yoon said unresolved historical issues should not mean that no forward steps could be taken to deepen ties. Yoon said, in his opening remarks at the meeting, "Cooperation and coordination between South Korea and Japan are essential not only for the common interests of the two countries, but also for world peace and prosperity."

The new Japan-South Korea bonhomie stands in sharp contrast with the pattern of the two States' past behaviour. Under Yoon and Kishida's predecessors, relations between South Korea and Japan plunged to their lowest in decades. Koreans accused Japan of forcing women to work in wartime brothels for the Japanese military and using forced labour, among other abuses. After South Korean courts ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation in the forced labour cases in 2018, Japan restricted exports of high-tech material to South Korea and Seoul threatened to pull out of a military intelligence-sharing deal with Tokyo.

Recently, Yoon has proposed that South Korean businesses - not the Japanese companies as ordered by a court - compensate victims of wartime labour. Yoon today doesn't believe Japan needs to "kneel" any more over what happened in the past.

Interestingly, relations between Japan and South Korea seem to be changing at the people-to-people level as well. During Kishida's visit to Seoul, there were no widespread protests. Korean and Japanese flags flew side by side. And their national anthems played together.

The observers say the growing bonhomie between the two reasonably developed democracies in East Asia is boon for India, the world's largest democracy with ancient roots. India has had very warm ties with both Japan and South Korea. India could use this to bring Japan and South Korea still closer to each other and, together with them, create a coalition of democracies in the Asian region.

Such a coalition of democracies is sure to help India, Japan and South Korea achieve their common objectives of fostering "a free, open, inclusive and peaceful Indo-Pacific" and foiling the aggressive designs of any authoritarian forces in the region. This would also help them reform the leading international institutions, including UN Security Council, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organisation, and create an architecture for better global governance.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.