U.S., Japan set for historic reconciliation

U.S., Japan set for historic reconciliation. May. 12, 2016 07:42. by 도쿄=서영아특파원, 워싱턴=이승헌 sya@donga.com,특파원ddr@donga.com.

A historic reconciliation between the United States and Japan that fought against each other in World War II is gaining momentum. As U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he would visit Hiroshima on Friday, the Japanese government said it was considering Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor. The leaders of the two countries will attempt to heal old wounds by visiting the victimized places.

However, there are significant concerns over the mutual visits and exchanges of reconciliatory gestures on an equal footing between Japan, a war criminal country, and the United States, which had to use atomic bombs in order to end the war. Some U.S. Democrats voice concern over a possible adverse effect ahead of the November presidential election. The positions of South Korea and China, which were victimized by Japan's wartime atrocities, are very complicated.

On Wednesday, Japan hailed the news of Obama's planned visit to Hiroshima announced on the previous night. Japanese media were full of optimism that an incumbent U.S. president's first visit to Hiroshima 71 years after the atomic bombing would solidify the Washington-Tokyo alliance and advance a nuclear-free world. The Sankei Shimbun's front-page headline was "Allies' Commitment to 'Nuclear-Free World'."

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Abe would consider visiting Pearl Harbor on the sidelines of his attendance at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held in Peru in November. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denied the report during a news conference, saying the Japanese government was not considering it. But he also mentioned, "No one knows the future."

If it happens, Abe's trip to Pearl Harbor will likely be a return visit for Obama's Hiroshima visit. Their exchange visits to the places symbolizing the beginning and the end of the Pacific War would show the world that the two countries have dispelled the hostility of the past and formed a powerful alliance. Many observers project that Obama's Hiroshima visit will add momentum to Abe's running state affairs. Japan's ruling party has high expectations that it will benefit from Obama's visit in July parliamentary elections.

The White House attempted to prevent Obama's visit to Hiroshima from being seen as an apology. "If people do interpret it that way, they’ll be interpreting it wrongly," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a regular news briefing on Tuesday. Regarding Obama's possible meeting with atomic bombing victims, he said he did not know whether there would be one because Obama's schedule had not been concluded yet.

However, the USA Today reported, "While polls show that most Japanese do not expect Obama to explicitly apologize for the bombing, many Japanese are likely to interpret his mere visit as an apology."

The Washington Post reported that the visit could create yet another controversy in Northeast Asia because it would inevitably invite negative reactions from neighboring countries, which fell victim to Japan's wartime atrocities.