ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the evolution of Japanese policy toward the Koreas since the "normalization" of Japanese-South Korean relations in 1965, showing how that policy has adapted to change both in the global security environment and in the relative capabilities of the two Koreas. From 1965 through the mid-1980s, the central goal of Japanese policy vis-a-vis the Korean Peninsula was to foster a stable status quo. To the Japanese leadership, the developments offered the prospect of a reunification along democratic capitalist lines that would be stabilizing rather than destabilizing. The central theme of Japanese strategy toward the Korean Peninsula in the years immediately ahead will be to pursue proactive initiatives vis-a-vis North Korea that will support the South Korean aspiration for a democratic solution. The chapter concludes with a discussion of likely trends in Japanese policy in the 1990s, with particular regard to North Korea.
