The relationship between Japan and South Korea seems hardly mature 50 years after the two countries normalized diplomatic relations. Along with troubled governmental ties that have not seen a formal summit between the two countries' top leaders in four years, opinion surveys indicate that mutual public distrust between the close neighbors have reached historic highs. The lack of any jointly organized event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Japan-South Korea basic treaty on Monday amply illustrates the chilly state of bilateral ties.
Over the years the two countries have had disagreements over Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea as well as a bitter territorial dispute. But more troubling is the apparent lack of willingness on the part of both governments today to either resolve or set aside their differences and place priority on moving the relationship forward. Both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye should feel a sense of crisis over the state of bilateral relations and explore opportunities for holding top-level talks to break the ice.
Japan-South Korea ties turned sharply tense after Park's predecessor President Lee Myun-bak visited Takeshima — a set of isles on the Sea of Japan that South Korea controls and calls Dokdo — in August 2012. Abe took office in late 2012 and Park the following year, but the two leaders have not held a formal one-on-one summit. Momentum for holding Abe-Park talks did not build even after U.S. President Barack Obama in March 2014 organized a trilateral meeting in the Hague out of concern over the troubled ties between the United States' two key Asian allies.