Can South Korea and Japan overcome their past and focus on the future?

Coming off some of the most tense years since Japan and South Korea normalized relations in 1965, the two countries appear to be entering a new era in defense cooperation. 

The Asian neighbors recently stepped up military ties, along with their treaty ally, the United States, in response to geopolitical pressures including North Korea’s growing missile and nuclear weapons program, concerns surrounding China’s military buildup, and the war in Ukraine. They have held joint anti-submarine warfare exercises and ballistic missile defense drills, and pledged at a trilateral meeting in Washington last month “to further strengthen and diversify security cooperation to counter the threat” from North Korea. 

Today, following the trio’s first economic security dialogue on Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol marked a key anniversary in relations by saying Japan