However, he does not venture to explain why. Thirdly, memories cut deep in Koreans. The Koreans in the South are not only suspicious of the regime in the North, but also the Japanese and American governments. South Korea's fixation on North Korea as an enemy, which sometimes puzzles and annoys outsiders, can only be explained by the bitter memories of the past. The legacy of the Second World War weighs heavily on Japan's shoulders, as it affects Japan's domestic politics and international ambitions.
Japan is, on the whole, feeling somewhat guilty and somehow frustrated for being victimised.
It admits that it had committed aggressive and imperial acts, but also says, at least from the point of view of some right-wing elements, that the country was behaving according to international norms at the time, no more, no less, when compared with the West. Some extremist views go so far as to suggest that by 'advancing into' Asia, Japan had helped to liberate Asia from Western imperialism and colonialism. To Japan's Asian neighbours, Japan spares no effort in glossing over its past deeds from time to time. To this reviewer, if the question is properly addressed and the relevant research pursued, they can help to set the scope and highlight the utility of the concept of remembering and forgetting in the study of international relations. Finding examples to verify one's thesis is one thing, but looking for counter examples to falsify one's thesis is another.