Patterns of escalation in historical and territorial disputes in Japan-ROK relations

Abstract

For several decades, the bilateral relationship between Japan and South Korea has been described as geographically close and yet emotionally distant. Seoul and Tokyo have experienced recurring conflict over historical and territorial issues, especially since the late 1990s. In this context, many scholars have pointed out the critical existence of historical and territorial issues, but there are few scholarly works that focus on the historical and territorial disputes themselves as dependent variables. This paper aims to explore the factors that have influenced the developments in the historical and territorial disputes between Japan and Korea. Toward that end, both quantitative and qualitative methodology are employed, including (1) an examination of the variation in the number of articles from major newspapers in Korea and Japan that address the subjects of comfort women, the Yasukuni Shrine, and the Dokdo/Takeshima issue

and (2) an in-depth case study of the period from 1998 to 2013. On these empirical grounds, this paper argues, first, that historical and territorial disputes are not constant but instead are dependent variables

second, that the most typical pattern of unusual escalation of historical and territorial disputes has involved a controversial act on the Japanese side followed by an assertive and unilateral response from the South Korean president

and third, that a key factor in the Japanese and Korean leaders provocative stances has been the domestic politics at work in both countries.