ABSTRACT
From the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, the Korean Peninsula was the object as well as the battlefield of major-power rivalries, which often turned violent, and Japan was one of the central contenders in those conflicts. Until the mid-twentieth century, Japan held sway in the balance of power game in North-East Asia, militarily defeating China and Russia, seizing territories from them, and colonizing Korea and subjugating its people. Japan then plunged into the bloodiest war it had ever fought in the Pacific, suffering a devastating defeat in the end, and losing the territories it had gained through aggression and greed. After the defeat Japan made its mark by devoting itself to democratization and economic growth, and again shook the landscape of North-East Asia, but this time with its economic and technological prowess. The Korean War in 1950-3 did much to boost Japan’s industrial development as the country supplied goods and services to the United States and South Korea, but Japan was both politically and militarily a non-factor in the ‘hot’ cold war on the Korean Peninsula. Gradually, however, Japan has expanded its military power within the framework of its bilateral alliance with the United States and has become one of the most capable military powers in the region. Nevertheless, in this new era, Japan has been reluctant to assert itself in the politics of the Korean Peninsula.
