South Korea’s Dalliance with China Erodes Fragile Ties with Allies

Quite a few entities rejoiced when, in December last year, Japan and South Korea finally put an end to their decades-old bickering over WW2 war crimes. It was a fitting culmination to the 70^th anniversary of the end of World War 11, and the United States thought it could heave a sigh of relief that its two key Asian allies had finally kissed and made up. The agreement was announced in a joint conference in Seoul with Japan’s Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his counterpart in South Korea Yun Byung-se declaring a final and irreversible resolution to settle the Korean comfort women issue. 

But it was a short-lived relief for the US. Korean-American groups who are against the agreement began a signature drive pushing for the ousting of Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken for his statement that the US government is seeking everyone’s support for the deal and to act accordingly. A website launched by a group called “U.S. Citizens of Korean Descent for ‘Comfort Women’” has demanded for Blinken’s resignation and the members’ signatures were addressed to President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. A demonstration was held in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles where the local State Department office is located. The website itself is questionable. A casual look shows that the signatures are all suspiciously Koreans, not US citizens.

The deal between Tokyo and Seoul was reached with concessions on both parties. Japan through its Prime Minister Abe Shinzo apologized through a telephone call to South Korean President Park Geun Hye for the women who went through “immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women.”  Japan will give a one-time donation of 1 billion yen (8.3 million dollars) from the government coffers to aid in the physical and psychological healing of these women, and the money will be coursed through a foundation that the government of Park will set up for this purpose. In return, Japan is asking for the removal of a “comfort woman” statue that was put up in front of the US Embassy in Seoul. It was also agreed that both nations will refrain from uttering disparaging remarks against the other in media.

The United States government who did not meddle openly in the formal talks was nevertheless happy that the two Asian powerhouses have finally put the past aside. Secretary of State John Kerry said, “We applaud the leaders of Japan and the Republic of Korea for having the courage and vision to reach this agreement, and we call on the international community to support it.” But not all were pleased with the progress made. The “Korean Council for Women Forced Into Sexual Slavery,” a non-government organization representing the former comfort women, took issue with Japan’s apology, calling the accord a “diplomatic humiliation” for not directly admitting that the sexual slavery was initiated systematically by the Japanese government. It also criticized the coursing of the money through a government agency, saying the financial compensation should be handed directly to the comfort women. Civil groups have been vocal about their opposition to the removal of the comfort woman statue in Seoul and have joined the weekly protests outside the US Embassy in the country’s capital.

The sexual slavery and comfort women have been South Korea’s political tools to ostracize Japan from the international community, to the point of bringing these issues to the US when these are matters that should be addressed only by the two countries involved. With Washington not wishing to take sides, the Koreans are affronted and are now seeking to oust Blinken, a senior official of the United States. Mr. Blinken is far from the first official that has been on the receiving end of Seoul’s treachery. In March 2015, US Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was attacked and stabbed by a Korean while delivering a speech at a breakfast forum in a Seoul hotel. The Park administration had afforded only light security to a foreign diplomat and they did not offer an official apology for the attempted murder. 

Other actions of South Korea negate its status as an important US ally. While the US has been protecting the territories of its other Asian allies from an increasingly aggressive China, Seoul has kept mum on the issue. Pres. Obama, urging Park to take a definitive stand, has publicly stated, “I would hope that South Korea would make itself heard at a time when China is engaged in violations on an international scale.” South Korea’s dalliance with China has furthered deepened into a serious relationship. It joined the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) which is a competitor of the US-favored World Bank and participated in the 70^th anniversary Memorial Day parade in Beijing, in spite of the US’ strong objections.

The White House has been patiently keeping its silence on the provocative actions of South Korea. But it should impose a limit to how much rebellion it can take from an overgrown kid’s tantrums. The ties that bind South Korea and the United States back in the Korean War should be reassessed to see if national values are still communal. Otherwise, it would be irrelevant to keep supporting a country that thumbs its nose at support and aid.