Foreign minister: Korea to closely watch Japan`s right-wing shift

Foreign minister: Korea to closely watch Japan`s right-wing shift. November. 23, 2012 04:17. lightee@donga.com.

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said Thursday that Korea is closely watching Japan’s “shift toward the right” in the wake of Koreans` fears over the right-wing election pledges made by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

“Japan has taken an extremely conservative and offensive approach over territorial disputes and other matters, and we have to maintain vigilance,” Kim told a forum hosted by the Korea Employers Federation in Seoul.

On Wednesday, Shinzo Abe, who is favored to become Japan’s next prime minister, announced the Japanese party’s pledges for the Dec. 16 general elections, including plans to rearm Japan, denial of wartime atrocities, and strengthening of territorial claims over Dokdo, Korea’s easternmost islets.

Kim said, “In our relations with Japan, issues on history and territory are non-negotiable,” adding, “The (political) situation in Japan is changing, so we`re closely watching it and preparing responses.” On if Abe`s party will implement its pledges, the minister said the party will have to readjust its promises if it takes power. “(In that case), we can lead (policy) to the direction we want,” Kim said,

Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tae-young also told a regular news briefing that Seoul expects Tokyo to play its role as an important member of the international community to make the world a better place to live in. On Abe’s promise to “bring back Japan,” Cho said, “We will closely watch what kind of a nation that certain forces in Japan will try to bring back.”

The Korean government is closely watching the situation in Japan, expecting Tokyo’s relations with Seoul and Beijing to worsen after Japan’s general elections next month. “Seoul’s diplomacy will be tested once again if Tokyo implements several of the announcements in the first half of next year,” a Korean official said, adding that Korea is considering a number of issues including responding to an unstable situation in Northeast Asia due to a territorial rows between China and Japan over the disputed Senkaku Islands.

Nevertheless, Seoul will continue seeking bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Tokyo separately from the latter`s right-wing shift.