Japan –South Korea Dispute: Impact on US Asia Pivot Strategy

Abstract

East Asia is one of the main regions in new US policy of Asia pivot in order to curtail the Chinese influence in the region, and to achieve the goal the US relies on its allies Japan and South Korea in the region. However, the latest trade dispute between Japan and South Korea has created a destabilizing situation for the US allies. The dispute has a long history stretched to the Japanese occupation of the Korean peninsula in 1910-45, and the claims demanded by the forced Korean labourers, comfort women, and the atomic bomb victims has been the bone of contention between Seoul and Tokyo. The relations have remained very close since the 1965 Treaty of Basic Relations but the current crisis has not only shaken the socio-cultural issues between two states but has threatened to end the 2012 Intelligence Sharing Pact and 2016 The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA).