Can South Korea Embrace Japan's Expanding Security Role? Sources and the Manifestation of the Conflicting Identities

Abstract

Amid the soured bilateral relations with South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has taken swift steps toward transforming Japan into a more active player in East Asian power politics. This is in response to North Korea's military threat and China's maritime expansionism. These intensifying security challenges prompted Tokyo to promote military readiness and introduce a force development plan in 2013. On 1 July 2014, Japan's Cabinet passed the decision on exercising collective self‐defense, signaling a shift from the old self‐imposed restriction on the use of force as a means of dispute settlement. The reinterpretation of Article 9 heralded a more proactive engagement of Japan's military in the regional power balance. Accordingly, Japan revised the US–Japan Defense Guidelines in April 2015, strengthening ties with the United States. South Koreans expressed sharply divided attitudes toward Japan's military empowerment. Marked differences ranged between the watchful eyes of the public on the one hand, and conditional acceptance by the government and security specialists on the other. Referring to regional geopolitics and historical bilateral relations, this paper presents conditions and rationales reconciling these conflicting positions.