Comparative Connections v.5 n.4 - Japan-Korea Relations: It's the Economy (and Culture), Stupid

The real action in Japan-South Korea relations this quarter was not over North Korea, but in the realm of economics and culture where a number of positive developments emerged. Meanwhile, the protracted nadir in Japan-North Korea relations has had permanent, lasting effects on Japan’s future security profile in the region. The North Koreans lately are fond of telling Americans that the U.S. and Asia should grow accustomed to the prospects of living with a nuclear North Korea. Such an outcome is undesirable and hopefully untrue. But the statement underscores an alternate proposition: as a result of North Korean intransigence, Asia will have to live with the permanent reality of a militarily more "normal" Japan that is not deterred from initiating punitive actions against others, and is also unlikely to ever roll back these capabilities.