With Abe in office, Seoul and Tokyo proceed with caution

"Seoul and Tokyo understand the necessity to improve their relationship following the launch of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration," said a South Korean government official. "But we should proceed cautiously."

Abe, who takes office on September 26 as Japan’s new leader, has rejected discussion of Japan’s past role in the region, saying that "history should be left to historians." Officials from Seoul pointed out Abe’s conservative, hard-line stance as the biggest obstacle to improving relations between the two countries. One official said, "If Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Abe repeats his hard-line rhetoric shortly after his inauguration, there won’t be any chance to attempt an improvement of relations."

Seoul is going to send a congratulatory message to Abe. Regarding the government’s position following the message, a high-ranking official only said, "Japan’s reaction is important," indicating that Seoul would wait to see where Tokyo wants to take the relationship.

The first goal for the two governments is to hold a South Korea-Japan summit during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, on November 18-19.

Seoul’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-moon has stressed the need for the "Japanese political leader’s accurate awareness of history," but said that "we are entering [the Abe era] with an open mind."

The South Korean presidential office maintained its existing position that it "has not set up a policy" regarding relations with Japan. A high-ranking Blue House official, who asked to remain anonymous, mentioned the necessity to improve Seoul-Tokyo relations, but said, "The important thing is that we can’t see any indications that the pending problems...will be resolved."

Indeed, though the government seems to have no official position over Japan’s stance, sore issues linger between the two countries, including Japanese officials’ visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class A war criminals are honored, and a whitewashing of history in certain Japanese history textbooks. A core official at the presidential office, also asking not to be named, said, "The government’s position is not that ’before Japan takes a certain measure, we won’t accept a summit.’ However, in light of public sentiment, some very sensitive issues exist between the two countries."

Meanwhile, China and Japan recently discussed improving their relations in meetings held in Tokyo and Beijing. Japan suggested the resumption of the meetings during the APEC summit, but China has yet to accept the offer. Quoting sources familiar to the two nations’ relationship, The Asahi Shimbun reported, "If Abe doesn’t take a positive role [in repairing relations], [China] won’t make any moves."