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North Korea makes nice sound bites, but I won't be surprised if Japan is secretly more worried about South Korea. The same day, South Korea successfully tested

North Korea makes nice sound bites, but I won't be surprised if Japan is secretly more worried about South Korea. The same day, South Korea successfully tested SLBM[1]. These days, NK is pretty much a convenient excuse for South Korea and Japan to beef up their military. Of course there's very little chance they'll fight in near future (the US will never allow it), but either country will still want to have enough firepower as bargaining chip: even at the best of days, you can never completely rely on the US being your benevolent protector. [1] https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/skorea-successfully-tests-submarine-launched-ballistic-missile-blue-house-2021-09-15/ https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/skorea-su...

travisporter 5y ago
Please admonish me for an ignorant question if needed, but what are the tensions between South Korea and Japan?
- ojbyrne 5y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93South_Korea_relations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93South_Korea_re...
- yongjik 5y ago
  I wouldn't say there's a military tension - well, other than the island of Dokdo (aka Takeshima) that's stupidly blown out of proportion, but I hope nobody's stupid enough to go to war over it. However the two countries don't exactly have an amicable history. I hope we get along well with each other (and we kind of do, more or less), but Japan still has many right-wing politicians who downplay their past war crimes. On our side, some South Korean politicians love to use Japan as a convenient scapegoat and blame Korea's every social problem on past Japanese occupation. It's less about direct military conflict between the two, and more about who gets a larger voice in any kind of issues. With the two Koreas, China, Russia, and Japan crammed in such a small area, East Asia is a tough place. You need to be seen as someone others cannot ignore.
- michael1999 5y ago
  Japan ruled Korea 1910 to 1945 with all the brutality typical of imperial Japan. I'm not Korean, but I might bear a grudge if my grandfather had been worked to death in slavery, and my grandmother raped endlessly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule
  - nemo44x 5y ago
    I was at a park in Seoul that had a mural running around it that illustrated very graphically this history. It was a very old mural. I think it becomes less an issue if it’s your great grandfather and less and less each generation removed.
- numpad0 5y ago
  None of the East Asian countries are friendly like US and Canada are. Different ancestries, history of invasions, colonial rules, “liberation”, etc.
jhj 5y ago
Despite the historical enmity, it seems that the public viewpoint towards Japan is shifting in SK though: > Political elites here are usually careful not to antagonize China, the country’s largest trading partner. But Mr. Yoon’s blunt rhetoric reflected a new phenomenon: a growing antipathy toward Beijing among South Koreans, particularly young voters whom conservative politicians are eager to win over. > Anti-Chinese sentiment has grown so much this year that China has replaced Japan — the former colonial ruler — as the country regarded most unfavorably in South Korea, according to a joint survey by the polling company Hankook Research and the Korean newsmagazine SisaIN. In the same survey, South Koreans said they favored the United States over China six to one. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/world/asia/korea-china-election-young-voters.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/world/asia/korea-china-el...
- nemo44x 5y ago
  You have to figure as the generations that were most affected by Japanese rule have died and are dying off, the new people see it as a historical thing that isn’t relevant. Look at Europe for example - people hit over their ancestors grievances. The world turns and life goes on. People just want prosperity.
  - CameronNemo 5y ago
    On the other hand, the scars of imperialism can be long lasting. One need only look at the legacy of the Holocaust (admittedly extreme example), or the colonization of north america. Time can help the SK-Japanese relationship, but healing does not come easily or freely. Especially when Japan still hesitates to apologize for its past atrocities inflicted against Korea or other former colonies.
rtkwe 5y ago
SK doesn’t want a war with NK either their capital is way too close to the DMZ and NK artillery for comfort and even if they win without a lot of damage they have to deal with integrating the population of NK who are vastly less developed economically than the south.

travisporter 5y ago

Please admonish me for an ignorant question if needed, but what are the tensions between South Korea and Japan?

ojbyrne 5y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93South_Korea_relations https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93South_Korea_re...
yongjik 5y ago
I wouldn't say there's a military tension - well, other than the island of Dokdo (aka Takeshima) that's stupidly blown out of proportion, but I hope nobody's stupid enough to go to war over it. However the two countries don't exactly have an amicable history. I hope we get along well with each other (and we kind of do, more or less), but Japan still has many right-wing politicians who downplay their past war crimes. On our side, some South Korean politicians love to use Japan as a convenient scapegoat and blame Korea's every social problem on past Japanese occupation. It's less about direct military conflict between the two, and more about who gets a larger voice in any kind of issues. With the two Koreas, China, Russia, and Japan crammed in such a small area, East Asia is a tough place. You need to be seen as someone others cannot ignore.
michael1999 5y ago
Japan ruled Korea 1910 to 1945 with all the brutality typical of imperial Japan. I'm not Korean, but I might bear a grudge if my grandfather had been worked to death in slavery, and my grandmother raped endlessly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_under_Japanese_rule
- nemo44x 5y ago
  I was at a park in Seoul that had a mural running around it that illustrated very graphically this history. It was a very old mural. I think it becomes less an issue if it’s your great grandfather and less and less each generation removed.
numpad0 5y ago
None of the East Asian countries are friendly like US and Canada are. Different ancestries, history of invasions, colonial rules, “liberation”, etc.

jhj 5y ago

Despite the historical enmity, it seems that the public viewpoint towards Japan is shifting in SK though: > Political elites here are usually careful not to antagonize China, the country’s largest trading partner. But Mr. Yoon’s blunt rhetoric reflected a new phenomenon: a growing antipathy toward Beijing among South Koreans, particularly young voters whom conservative politicians are eager to win over. > Anti-Chinese sentiment has grown so much this year that China has replaced Japan — the former colonial ruler — as the country regarded most unfavorably in South Korea, according to a joint survey by the polling company Hankook Research and the Korean newsmagazine SisaIN. In the same survey, South Koreans said they favored the United States over China six to one. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/world/asia/korea-china-election-young-voters.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/world/asia/korea-china-el...

nemo44x 5y ago
You have to figure as the generations that were most affected by Japanese rule have died and are dying off, the new people see it as a historical thing that isn’t relevant. Look at Europe for example - people hit over their ancestors grievances. The world turns and life goes on. People just want prosperity.
- CameronNemo 5y ago
  On the other hand, the scars of imperialism can be long lasting. One need only look at the legacy of the Holocaust (admittedly extreme example), or the colonization of north america. Time can help the SK-Japanese relationship, but healing does not come easily or freely. Especially when Japan still hesitates to apologize for its past atrocities inflicted against Korea or other former colonies.

rtkwe 5y ago

SK doesn’t want a war with NK either their capital is way too close to the DMZ and NK artillery for comfort and even if they win without a lot of damage they have to deal with integrating the population of NK who are vastly less developed economically than the south.