Japan's Policy Towards South Korea under the Abe Shinzo administration

The article represents an attempt to analyze the foreign policy strategy of Prime Minister Abe Shinzo's office towards the Republic of Korea and summarize its achievements in bilateral relations. South Korea was considered by Tokyo as an important political partner, with which, however,  it was not possible to achieve good neighborly relations. Japan viewed Seoul as an important component of the region's security architecture and sought to maintain the balance of power in East Asia.

Under Abe administration Japanese-South Korean relations were in crisis due to problems of historical memory and territorial problems. Both sides tried to improve relations by maintaining highlevel dialogue, but a clear solution was impossible to achieve due to the different positions of the states. S. Abe sought to overcome the complex of a country that lost the war and did not consider it necessary to return to the issue of solving old problems, but he had to take into account the opinion of his partner in order to maintain dialogue and stability in the region.

 In 2015, consensus was reached on the Ianfu issue, but with the advent of a new government in South Korea, the progress made was almost undone. The crisis in bilateral relations reached its peak and led to the boycott of Japanese goods by Koreans and the removal of South Korea from the favored trade list.

 In 2019, the only military agreement with the Republic of Korea, GSOMIA, came under threat of existence, which ran counter to Tokyo's vision of the region's security architecture.

 By the end of Prime Minister S. Abe's tenure, relations between states were at their lowest level in the post-war period.

1. Green Michael J. Line of Advantage. Japan’s Grand Strategy in the Era of Abe Shinzo. New York, Columbia University Press, 2022, 311

2. Historical issues in Japan’s relations with neighboring countries. Moscow, Izdatel`stvo «Aspekt Press», 2022. 336 p. (In Russ.)

3. Asmolov K.V., Pugacheva O.S. Yun Seok-yol's Policy Towards Japan: Reasons for the Change in Approach and Prospects. Japanese Studies. 2024. No. 3. P. 113-132. (In Russ.)

4. D'yachkov I.V. Historical memory and politics: the problem of “comfort women” in modern South Korean-Japanese relations. Japanese studies. 2019, No 4. Pp. 72-87. (In Russ.)

5. Narushige Michishita. Changing Security Relationship between Japan and South Korea: Frictions and Hopes. Asia Pacific Review. July 2014. Pp. 19-32.

6. Japan in the era of great transformations / edited by D.V. Streltsov. M., AIRO-XXI. 2020. 320 p. (In Russ.)

7. Mori Kazuko. China's Contemporary Diplomacy. Tokyo: Iwanami, 2018. Pp. 320. (In Japanese)

8. Batakova A.A. The approaches of the Japanese government to the problems of the “historical past. Vestnik MGIMO. 2016. No. 1 (46): 106-117. (In Russ.)

9. Prime Minister Abe's response at the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors (March 14, 2014). Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/a_o/ rp/page23_000875.html (accessed: p. 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

10. Diplomatic Bluebook 2015. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/bluebook/2015/html/index.html (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

11. Commemorative address by President Park Geun-hye on the 70th anniversary of Liberation. Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong. https: overseas.mofa.go.kr/hk-en/brd/m_1494/ view.do?seq=724698&srchFr=&amp% 3BsrchTo=&amp%3BsrchWord=&amp% 3BsrchTp=&amp% 3Bmulti_itm_seq=0&amp% 3Bitm_seq_1=0&amp%3Bitm_seq_2=0&amp% 3Bcompany_cd=&amp%3Bcompany_nm= (accessed: 10.05.2025)

12. Joint press conference by the Foreign Ministers of Japan and the Republic of Korea, 2015. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/a_o/na/kr/ page4_001664.html (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

13. Diplomatic Bluebook 2016. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/bluebook/2016/html/index.html (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

14. Diplomatic Bluebook 2019. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/gaiko/bluebook/2019/html/index.html (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

15. South Korean leader congratulates Abe on ruling bloc's poll win. The Japan Times, 25.10.2017. https: www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/25/nationaтеекоl/politicsdiplomacy/south-korean-leadercongratulates-abe-election-win/#.XnG366j7Q2w/ (accessed: 10.05.2025)

16. Kistanov V.O. Relations between Japan and South Korea: problems, trends, prospects. Japanese studies. 2019. No 3. Pp.33-48. (In Russ.)

17. South Korean boycott of Japanese goods hits beer and carmakers. The Guardian, 04.09.2019. URL: https: www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/04/south-korea-boycott-japanese-goods -beer-car-sales. (accessed: 10.05.2025)

18. Update of METI's licensing policies and procedures on exports of controlled items to the Republic of Korea. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. https: www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2019/0701_001.html. (accessed: 10.05.2025)

19. Overview of the Japan-ROK Defense Ministers' Meeting. Ministry of Defense of Japan. https: warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11591426/www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/exchange/area/2011/pdf/20110604_kor- j.pdf. (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

20. Defense White Paper 2016. Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea. https: www.mnd.go.kr/user/mndEN/upload/ pblictn/ PBLICTNEBOOK_201705180354456380.pdf (accessed: 10.05.2025)

21. South Korea scraps GSOMIA, destroys Japan- US-South Korea "quasi" alliance. Business Nikkei, 26.08.2019. https: business.nikkei.com/atcl/ seminar/19/00023/082300090/. (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

22. Indo-Pacific Strategy Report. Preparedness, Partnerships, and Promoting Networked Region. The Department of Defense. https: media.defense.gov/2019/Jul/01/2002152311/1/-1/1/DEPARTMENT-OF-DEFENSE-INDOPACIFIC-STRATEGY-REPORT-2019.PDF. (accessed: 10.05.2025)

23. Defense White Paper 2019. Ministry of Defense of Japan. https: www.mod.go.jp/j/publication/wp/wp2019/pdf/R01010203.pdf. (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

24. "Japan is Back", Policy Speech by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Ministry of Foreign Affairs. https: www.mofa.go.jp/ announce/pm/abe/us_20130222en.html. (accessed: 10.05.2025)

25. Coj Dzhe Dok. Strategy of Korean Peninsula. Moscow, IDV RAN, 2022, 288 p. (In Russ.)

26. Ikegami, Akira. Ikegami Akira asks: What are South Korea's true intentions? Tokyo: Asahi shimbun shyuppan, 2019, 200 p. (In Japanese).

27. Defense White Paper 2014. Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea. https: www.mnd.go.kr/user/mndEN/upload/ pblictn/PBLICTNEBOOK_201704260250138940.pdf. (accessed: 10.05.2025)

28. Statement by the South Korean Government Spokesperson on Prime Minister Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine. Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Japan. https: overseas.mofa.go.kr/jp-ja/brd/m_1055/view.do? seq=703757&srchFr=&srchTo=&srchWord=&srchTp=&multi_itm_se q=0&itm_seq_1=0&itm_seq_2=0&company_cd=&company_nm=. (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

29. Siripala, Thisanka. Dokdo or Takeshima? Japan and South Korea Reopen Territorial Row Ahead of Olympic Games. The Diplomat, 07.02.2018. https: thediplomat.com/2018/02/dokdo-or-takeshimajapan-and-south-korea-reopen-territorialrow-ahead-of-olympic-games/. (accessed: 10.05.2025)

30. Protest against South Korean military exercises on Takeshima, 2017. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press4_004721.html. (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

31. Protest against South Korean military's defense drills on Takeshima, 2018. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press4_006137.html. (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

32. Protest against military drills by South Korean military on Takeshima, 2019. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. https: www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/release/press4_008206.html. (accessed: 10.05.2025). (In Japanese).

33. Takahashi, Kosuke. Japan-South Korea Tensions Grow Over Radar Lock-on Incident. https: japan-forward.com/japan-south-korea-tensions-grow-over-radar-lock-on-incident/ (accessed: 10.05.2025)

34. South Korean fighter jets patrol over islands disputed by Japan. Aljazeera, 01.10.2019. https: www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/south-korean-fighter-jets-patrol-islandsdisputed-japan-191001064022495.html. (accessed: 10.05.2025)

35. Park, S. Nathan. Abe Ruined the Most Important Democratic Relationship in Asia. Foreign Policy, September 4, 2020. https: foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/04/shinzo-abejapan-south-korea-war-nationalism (accessed: 10.05.2025)