From Normalization to Reconciliation. The Japan-Korea Case (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Region: Far East, grade: 1,0, Korea University, Seoul (Graduate School of International Studies), course: Korea-Japan Relations, language: English, abstract: More than five decades ago, Japan and the Republic of Korea (in the following "Korea" or "South Korea") normalized their relation. Much time has passed, but frictions continue to strain relations every once in a while, usually due to history-related issues. This casts doubt on the claim that normalization has brought with it reconciliation. Like MORRIS-SUZUKI stated, Japan and Korea have not been able to achieve more than "a "thin" and ultimately very fragile form of reconciliation" yet.

Thus, the main questions of this paper are: Is "thick" reconciliation between Japan and Korea desirable, let alone possible? How can such a reconciliation be achieved? Why is history still a problem? To answer these question, the paper is structured as following: First, the meaning of reconciliation will be discussed. Based on this the main part analyses and discusses reconciliation between Japan and Korea by explaining the history "problem", exploring conditions and ways for "thick" reconciliation and assessing the possibility of achieving "thick" reconciliation in the future. Lastly, the conclusion summarizes and assesses the findings of this paper.