[Editorial] Time for Mutual Benefits

President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed to establish a practical cooperation system between the two countries and foster a mature partnership during their summit talk yesterday. Lee said, “Korea and Japan should go forward into the future with a shared vision, while having a correct understanding of past history,” to which Fukuda completely agreed. The two leaders did not discuss sensitive issues, such as the Yasukuni Shrine that venerates Japanese war dead including criminals and fact-distorting history textbooks. They said it is to focus on the “future” rather than the “past” of the bilateral relationship.

If the bilateral relationship is to return to the normalcy and to promote cooperation and exchange across the fields of politics, economy and culture, they need to put the words into practice first, which will deepen mutual trust. If their agreement proves to be a mere rhetoric, the vicious circle of the past will be repeated in which leaders talk about friendship in a summit and the relationship returns to one of conflict after it.

What is important is Japan’s self-reflection. So often, not only rightist politicians but also some government officials of the country have damaged the bilateral relationship by making absurd remarks that glorified Japan’s colonial rule over Korea. There should be no more such incidents. For its part, Korea should also free itself from the past history. The government should not encourage or condone anti-Japanese sentiments for nationalist or political reasons, just as the past administration did.

The Korea-Japan relationship has significantly developed. A case in point can be found in that while only 10,000 civilians visited each other’s country annually in 1965 when the bilateral diplomatic ties were established, the figure increased to 13,000 a day, or 4.83 million a year, in 2007. President Lee was right when he said, “We can’t avoid remembering the past. `But we can’t remain so mired in the past that it prevents us from stepping into the future.”

The two countries should build trust in the economic front as well. Without reducing Korea’s trade deficit with Japan that reached $29.9 billion last year alone, the two countries can neither become true partners nor advance their discussion on a free trade agreement. Japan should increase its investment in Korea and cooperate in technology transfer in parts and components industry, which accounts for 70 percent of Korea’s trade deficit with Japan. Only when there is progress in such specific issues, can the two countries expect a substantial development of the bilateral ties.

Spring has come in the bilateral ties. It is time to bloom the bud of mutual benefits between Korea and Japan.