Changing power relations in Northeast Asia : implications for relations between Japan and South Korea / edited by Marie Söderberg.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: Japan-South Korea relations at a crossroads / Marie Soderberg -- 2. How can we cope with historical disputes? The Japanese and South Korean experience / Kan Kimura -- 3. A whirlpool of historical controversies in widening waters of cooperation / Cheol Hee Park -- 4. Japan and the two Koreas: the foreign-policy power of domestic politics / T. J. Pempel -- 5. Historical memory versus democratic reassurance: the security relationship between Japan and South Korea / Paul Midford -- 6. Hallyu: new politico-cultural discourse in East Asia? / Ingyu Oh -- 7. Lingering memory problems: compromising hearts and resentful resistance / Mikyoung Kim -- 8. Substituting multilateralism, guiding trilateralism: the Japan-ROK Investment Agreement in the growing East Asian regionalism / Yoichiro Sato -- 9. The struggle for a decent life in Japan: the Korean minority adapting to changing legal and political conditions / Marie Soderberg -- 10. A multilayered analysis of Japan-South Korea relations / Marie Soderberg.

This book analyses the Japanese-South Korean relationship from various angles including politics, security, economics, culture and immigration. In a sense the two countries are natural partners. Both are democratic societies, they are economically strong and are the only two Asian countries that are members of the OECD. Both have security treaties with the USA, they share security concerns when it comes to the North Korean nuclear threat as well as the rise of China, which at the same time has become the largest trading partner for both. Japan and South Korea also share similar values, customs, cultures and languages. All this would make it logical for them to have a strong cooperative bilateral relationship. Yet this is still not the case. The contributors to this book examine how the relationship is affected by the changing power relations in Northeast Asia and find a most complex situation.