May 26, 2015
May 20, 2015 - Japan and South
Korea are Western-style democracies with open-market economies, are
committed to the rule of law, and are also US allies. However,
despite their shared interests, shared values, and geographic
proximity, divergent national identities have driven a wedge
between the countries. Brad Glosserman and Scott Snyder discuss the
roots of this split and its ongoing threat to the region and the
world. In their new release, The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash,
Glosserman and Snyder identify competing notions of national
identity as the main obstacle to a productive partnership between
Japan and South Korea. Through public opinion data, interviews, and
years of observation, they show how fundamentally incompatible, and
rapidly changing, conceptions of national identity in Japan and
South Korea—and not struggles over power or structural issues—have
complicated territorial claims and international policy. Despite
changes in the governments of both countries and concerted efforts
by leading political figures to encourage US-ROK-Japan security
cooperation, the Japan-Korea relationship continues to be hobbled
by history and its deep imprint on ideas of national identity. They
recommend bold, policy-oriented prescriptions for overcoming
problems in Japan-Korea relations and facilitating trilateral
cooperation among these three Northeast Asian allies, recognizing
the power of the public on issues of foreign policy, international
relations, and the prospects for peace in Asia.
For more information, please visit the link below:
http://www.koreasociety.org/policy/the_japan-south_korea_identity_clash_east_asian_security_and_the_united_states.html