EAST ASIA: Japan-South Korea Row Heightens Security Fears

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Feb 14 1996 (IPS) - The Japanese government is playing down the simmering tension with South Korea over disputed islands in the Sea of Japan, but analysts say the sabre-rattling between the two nations poses a serious threat to regional security.

“The very fact that the Japanese government and media are playing down the issue is a clear sign of how tense the situation is for Japan,” says political analyst Masahiko Nakagawa.

“If Japan’s patience snaps, the tense situation we are now facing will affect the security balance in Asia,” adds Kazunori Araki, an analyst at Gendai Korea Institute, a research organisation in Tokyo.

South Korea announced plans this week to hold military exercises near the Takeshima islands situated halfway between the two countries.

“The military drills will be held to show that South Korea exercises territorial sovereignty over the islands,” an unidentified South Korean defence official was quoted as saying.

Japan and South Korea, the United States’ two closest Asian allies, have maintained a security balance in Asia, but this row has heightened anxiety in a region already jittery over Beijing’s muscle-flexing and the nuclear threat posed by North Korea and China.

South Korea has kept a security vigil over the islands since 1954, resulting in several skirmishes with Japanese fishing vessels.

The current dispute came as Japan was preparing to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which would put the islands within Japan’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The decision to conduct military exercises was prompted by Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda’s demand last week that South Korean scrap plans to build a wharf off the islands.

Ikeda stressed that Japan has sovereignty over the rocky, uninhabited islands, which cover an important fishing ground for both countries and whose sea bed is believed to be rich in minerals.

The official’s remarks drew a furious response from the South Korean public. Demonstrators burned the Japanese flag in Seoul and staged rallies in other major cities.

Leading South Korean dailies have also accused Japan of wrongly claiming the islands. The ‘Dong Ilbo’ called on South Korean President Kim Young Sam to cancel a meeting with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto scheduled in Bangkok on Mar. 1.

The Japanese government responded calmly to Kim Young Sam’s cancellation of a scheduled meeting on Monday with Japanese officials on the islands issue.

“The cancellation of the meeting is regrettable. I urge Seoul to change its mind,” said Taku Tamazaki, head of the Japanese mission to South Korea.

But many Japanese saw Seoul’s plan to hold military drills off the islands as a direct threat to bilateral ties that have been friendly but strained by lingering bitterness over Japan’s brutal occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945.

“It’s time the Japanese government reacts clearly to the overblown attitude of South Korea,” wrote the Nikkei Shimbun, Japan’s leading financial daily.

Regional analysts believe Hashimoto — known for his outspoken, tough political style — will not play down the issue for too long.

“Japan’s past colonisation of the Korean peninsula has tied its hands in its diplomacy with South Korea. But with public sentiment on the islands dispute clearly on the government’s side, Hashimoto need not be afraid to speak out,” says Araki.

Japanese historians say the islands have belonged to Japan since 1905. But South Korean professor Shin Yong Ha, who teaches history at Seoul National University, says Korea has well- documented claims to the island which date back to the year 512.

Observers say economic concerns are the main consideration in the two countries’ overlapping claims to the islands.

Japan is the world’s largest importer of marine products. Imports grew last year while its off-shore fishing catch dropped. Figures from the Fisheries Agency show off-shore fishing dropped more than 100,000 tonnes in 1994 compared to the previous year.

To cope with the loss, the country has increased imports. South Korea is the fifth largest exporter to Japan, providing more than 200,000 tonnes in 1994 worth several million dollars.

The Japanese government has been forced to lower its fishing catch in several parts of the world. This explains its interest in laying claim to the islands surrounded by waters rich in fish and other resources.

The dispute is expected to escalate at least till the April general elections in South Korea.

“South Korean President is playing up the dispute in order to win back the public support he has lost recently,” said the Nikkei Shimbun.

A bribery scandal that led to the jailing of former South Korean leader Roh Tae Woo has jolted Kim’s government which was supported by Roh.

Observers in Tokyo say the Japanese public’s increasingly tough stance on the territorial dispute has also made an early settlement of the issue almost impossible.