It takes two to tango: The difficult Japan-South Korea relations as clash of realities

Why do Japan-South Korea relations remain difficult despite several efforts to overcome the past? Elite narratives in Japan and South Korea reify the bilateral relationship as a difficulty due to troublesome and insincere neighbour. For the Japanese policy elites, the difficulty is due to troublesome South Koreans unwilling to embrace future-oriented relationship; whereas for the South Korean policy elites, the insincere Japanese unwilling to address past wrong-doing is the source of the problem. The result is a self-fulfilling prophecy of an intractable mutual misapprehension, suggesting that the difficult relationship is here to stay. I analyze pronouncements by both the Japanese-and South Korean policy elites appearing in official documents and media reports for clues into the manner in which the bilateral relationship is reified in to a difficulty purportedly due to the recalcitrance of the neighbour. The narratives consistently show that both the Japanese-and South Korean policy elites consider the onus of improvement lies with the troublesome/insincere neighbour. In short, the bilateral relationship is a clash of realities, with the logical conclusion being that the difficult relationship will persist for the foreseeable future.