For years, tension between Japan and South Korea has waxed and waned in a cyclical pattern.
In the recent past, friction and animosity has repeatedly emerged as a result of the politicization of historical issues. Tension would subside only after the political winds changed to make it possible for both sides to put historical and emotional issues on the back burner to stumble forward.
So it is understandable that U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense Randall Schriver recently said that in the past, both Tokyo and Seoul had overcome their differences and worked together on the bigger picture of regional security. "This time is no different," he told the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in late August.