Introduction

The relationship between Japan and South Korea is a most complex one, tainted by the historical experience of Japan's annexation of Korea at the beginning of the twentieth century. It has also to a great extent been shaped by the power relations in the area. The way in which Korea was divided into two parts, along the 38th Parallel, after the Second World War was to have implications for Japanese–Korean relations. So was the Korean War, as well as the Cold War, which put Japan and South Korea into the same anti-communist camp. However, the two allies of the USA never seemed to become natural allies of each other, and did not even normalize their relationship until 1965. To a certain extent the two countries have followed the same path of democratization and development into market economies. Living standards and technological standards are high in both, and they are the only two countries in Asia that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).