Korea's strategic thoughts toward Japan: searching for a democratic alliance in the past-driven future

摘要

By reviewing the development of relations between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan up to the present, since Korea was liberated from Japan's colonial rule, the author will show that changes in the security environment have gradually raised the importance of ROK-Japan security cooperation. South Korea and Japan, both allied to the United States, shared the common goal of defending their society from the communist threat, but their dedication to democratic values was not imminent enough to outweigh their past history. After the demise of the Soviet threat in Northeast Asia, the rationale for South Korean-Japanese security cooperation is to be found in their joint contribution to handle comprehensive security threats in the region, including the issues of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, confidence-building, environmental and energy security, etc. The future of the South Korean-Japanese relationship depends on whether the two sides can build a future-oriented relationship as they move to remedy the past. ROK-Japan relations, the weakest link of the trilateral security relations among the United States, Korea, and Japan, may not override the importance of the Korea-U.S. and the U.S.-Japan alliances due to the geostrategic conditions that confine Korean and Japanese foreign policy. Nevertheless, their common views of democracy and the market economy will continue to bind them together throughout the twenty-first century.