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Article: Worst of friends: South Korea and Japan need to do better than that.(Editorial)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- October 3, 1998
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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South Korea and Japan need to do better than that.
OUTSIDERS watching the shifts and shudders in East Asia's complex security landscape often overlook one of its enduring fault-lines: the prickly relationship between Japan and South Korea. On October 7th South Korea's president, Kim Dae Jung, will pay his first state visit to Japan. When he was elected last December, Mr Kim said he would work for closer ties with Japan. Correspondingly warm words will appear in the communique after the Tokyo talks. But, alas, they will represent no real breakthrough. Japan's new prime minister, Keizo Obuchi, is too preoccupied at home to take Mr Kim boldly at his word.
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