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the past few months have seen increased
diplomatic activity between Japan and
South Korea on a scale not seen in years
South Korean president Yun sakul and
Japanese prime minister fumio kishida
have visited each other's countries and
Senior defense officials met just last
week in Singapore diplomatic engagement
that appears to have sizable support
according to her survey especially among
young people and culture appears to be
at the core of that engagement
outraged protests
product boycotts
a national trade disputes relations
between Japan and South Korea have been
on the rocks in recent years now this
flamboyant Korean comedian is leading a
cultural turnaround
the most popular Japanese in South Korea
Japanese Alter Ego Tanaka has helped to
lighten the mood between these two
neighbors with songs and jokes
for Young People Like Us we don't think
about reasons to be friends we just
become friends I never thought about
those reasons
we don't become friends with someone
because they have certain good qualities
but because we're the same people
his sympathetic portrayal has become an
online hit he has a hundred thousand
subscribers on YouTube tuning in to
watch Tanaka devour Korean snacks and
thousands paying to see him live in
person on stage
yeah I think his die-hard fans see his
success has done much to heal the
historic Rift in recent years
I have enjoyed Japanese culture since I
was young
I hope people aren't so narrow-minded
about Japan and hope it can be an
opportunity to unite
[Music]
there is a social atmosphere that sort
of encouraged boycotting of Japanese
culture
so I was reluctant to talk about Japan
however after Tanaka's debut on YouTube
the atmosphere is more relaxed
The Fallout between the two countries
goes back to the era of Japanese
Colonial rule and in particular the
exploitation of women
women like Lee yong-sun who were forced
into sexual slavery in the 1940s
they must apologize and provide
compensation by thoroughly examining the
Comfort women issue
who run military brothels
Japan did
animosity that turned into trade
disputes at the national level and
sweeping boycotts of goods
beer fashion and Tech Brands all in the
firing line
that's changed now with Japan's Asahi
Brew back in favor again much to the
pleasure of beer lovers
if there's something to apologize for
it's right to get an apology from Japan
but I think we don't need to be hung up
on that and treat them badly as
neighboring countries our young people
hope that we'll get along well with each
other
if these Falls are indeed becoming
friends again it's no small thanks to
the healing power of culture
[Music]
and joining me now for more context is
John Lee he's an editor at Korea Pro a
website focused on South Korea's foreign
and domestic affairs John what role
would you say is culture playing in
bringing young people from South Korea
and Japan closer
well we have to consider that culture
has always been a very important part
between Korea and Japan Japanese movies
Japanese pop songs animated comic books
these have always been very popular in
Korea and recently with a slight thought
in the relations between the two
countries the younger Koreans especially
have been more
willing to purchase of Japanese clothes
Japanese food Japanese brands in general
and so this is helping to improve
relations somewhat between on a
people-to-people level
relations between South Korea and Japan
have always been overshadowed by the
Japanese Occupation of Korea that ended
with the end of World War II is that at
all relevant to how younger South
Koreans perceives Japan
well I wouldn't say that it is
completely absent while younger South
Koreans might not be as
invested in the past events as older
Generations might be it's always still
there and so uh whether you're talking
about the the war crimes or the
occupation that Japan uh conducted in
Korea during the first half of the 20th
century all of that is still part of
South Korean history history curriculums
and so that will never totally disappear
it might have weakened but it will never
be done completely
we're talking about young people let's
talk about the leaders of both countries
who've met frequently in the past few
months alone and talked of improving
ties what's behind this Arab Rushmore
well let's start with the South Korean
president uh president yunsung is a
little different from most other
conventional politicians
whereas most politicians would be very
in tuned and concerned about the
approval ratings presidential relatively
doesn't seem to care all that much he is
very much an idealist
he is driven by his idealism and his
ideals dictates that he needs to pursue
a closer relationship with the Western
countries with the democracies of the
world and that includes Japan and so he
is convinced that pursuing
um they taunt with Japan is the right
thing to do and so that's where he's at
right now
as when we crossed the Sea of Japan and
talk about uh fumiyakishida he is much
more cautious in approaching his
religions with South Korea we have to
remember that he was the foreign
minister at the time when former
president and former Japanese prime
minister Shinzo Abe came up with this
supposedly final and irreversible deal
to
um oversee the Comfort women problems
that occurred in the past and so because
he was a Japanese foreign minister at
the time who pushed Shinzo Abe to pursue
this deal with South Korea he has been
burned before when South Korea suddenly
turned around and decided that those
deals were no longer relevant and so
whereas he is
reciprocating president's Olive Branch
he might not be as gung-ho about it
but are there any geostrategic needs
that are more pressing this time around
that brings Japan and South Korea
together
most certainly but with the rise of
China and China becoming more assertive
and with the rise of wolf Warrior
diplomacy as people around the world
have seen over the past few years there
have been a lot of concerns about
um China's Rising assertiveness in the
region and because South Korean Japan
have a lot of common uh they have a lot
of commonalities when it comes to
Industries and they are competing
against China right now and of course
because they are siding a lot with the
U.S and there's a lot of heated
back and forth between Washington and
Beijing Seoul in Tokyo especially under
the current governments have had the
impetus they have they needed motivation
to try to get closer together but
whether or not this is going to be a
long-term sort of factor that will help
that will keep relations improving in
perpetuity it has a different matter
altogether because we have to remember
that China has always been there whether
we talk about 5 10 or 12 years ago China
has been rising economy but in the past
South Korea and Japan have still turned
away from each other despite the rising
China at the time as well so we'll
discontinue that remains to be seen
what should we be looking out for in the
in the coming months
and in the coming months South Korea is
going to have a domestic election a
parliamentary election and if you look
at the polls right now a majority of
South Koreans say that they expect the
opposition party to maintain control of
the National Assembly now that is
extremely bad news for president because
if the Democrats if the if the
opposition body the Democratic party if
they maintain control of the National
Assembly president yoon's domestic
policies are going to be just stuck for
the rest of his presidential term and so
he is going to have to try to get his
numbers up now will he try to be more
assertive toward Japan if he feels that
his approval ratings are not going up
high enough that he feels comfortable
with next year's elections then things
might change so far he has not indicated
that he will but in politics it's
anyone's game I guess