These episodes are impeding progress in developing bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose Liberal Democratic Party took power after scoring a landslide victory in the Lower House election last December, is moving to amend the country's pacifist Constitution and enact a "basic law on national security."

He has also indicated his intention to transform the Self-Defense Forces into a national defense force, and he is seeking worldwide acceptance for Japan to engage in collective defense.

Abe has also made waves by suggesting he wants to revise the Kono Statement issued in 1993 that acknowledged the Japanese military's complicity in coercing Korean women to serve as "comfort women."

Yet immediately after taking office, Abe's first priority was economic recovery. He employed bold policies, such as lowering interest rates.

The Japanese economy, after years of stagnation, is showing clear signs of recovery.

Meanwhile, Abe has taken proactive steps in foreign affairs and national security policy, with moves to shore up Japan's defense capabilities and strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance.

For a while, Abe moved cautiously, apparently out of consideration for the international community's concern over his plans to amend the Constitution and revise the Kono Statement.

Abe also refrained from unilaterally seeking mediation from the International Court of Justice in The Hague over Japan's territorial dispute with South Korea.

He clearly did not want to act without gaining South Korea's consent for such an action and moved to maintain friendly ties with the administration headed by President Park Geun-hye.

VISITS TO YASUKUNI, DENIAL OF WARTIME HISTORY

However, the visits to Yasukuni Shrine by Aso and other lawmakers in April sparked an outcry in South Korea and China, and hurt Japan's relations with those two countries.

Neighboring countries that were colonized or attacked by Japan during World War II were shocked that officials in the Abe administration, which placed so much importance on economic recovery, would then follow up with visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where Japan's war dead are honored along with Class-A war criminals.

Abe’s remarks on wartime history have thrown cold water on efforts by South Korea to improve bilateral ties.

Abe has also questioned whether Tokyo’s World War II occupation of nations could be defined as an aggression.

Furthermore, Abe administration officials, as well as Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, have tried to deny wartime crimes and atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army.

The South Korean government, and the public, have responded to the Abe administration’s scandalous perception and remarks on wartime history with anger and harsh criticism.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se canceled a planned visit to Japan last month.

The Abe administration's plans to strengthen the SDF with the goal of becoming a "normal state" are not entirely incomprehensible when one considers Japan's international standing. Yet, Abe’s remarks on wartime history and visits by Cabinet members to Yasukuni Shrine indicate an insensitive attitude and complete disregard by the Japanese government and the Japanese people concerning their country's past offenses.

Because of this, neighboring countries worry that if the SDF is made stronger, then Japan will use its military might to repeat its past mistakes.

The Japanese people need to understand that.

The LDP is expected to win a majority of seats in the Upper House election in July, stoking concern that Abe will use a powerful base of support to more aggressively push forward with nationalistic foreign affairs and national security policies toward amending the Constitution and turning Japan into a military power.

South Korea and Japan must cooperate closely in order to curb North Korea's nuclear weapons development and hold a rising China in check.

But I believe such cooperation will become difficult if Japan-South Korea ties cool over a rightward shift by the Abe administration and discord surrounding territorial and historical issues.

원문주소 : http://ajw.asahi.com/article/forum/security_and_territorial_issues/AJ201305240017