Seoul says cooperation with Tokyo to continue in 'positive' direction after Ishiba's election

Seoul said it aimed to continue cooperating with Tokyo to maintain a positive trajectory in bilateral ties after former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba was named the new Japanese leader.

Shigeru Ishiba, center, waves as he is elected as leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party after the party's leadership election in Tokyo on Friday. [AP/YONHAP]

Seoul said it aimed to continue cooperating with Tokyo to maintain a positive trajectory in bilateral ties after former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba was named the new Japanese leader.

Known for his dovish stance on bilateral issues with Korea, Ishiba, 67, will be inaugurated as the new Japanese prime minister on Tuesday, replacing Fumio Kishida.

In a recent commentary piece for a U.S. think tank, Ishiba, considered a defense policy expert, said he aims to build an Asian-style NATO to better deter China, Russia and North Korea centered on Japan's alliance with the United States and other partner countries, including South Korea.

A senior presidential official said Friday that Seoul will "communicate closely with the newly launched Japanese cabinet and cooperate to continue the positive trend in Korea-Japan relations."

The presidential official added that Seoul looks forward to working together with Tokyo, noting, "Our government will take a proactive stance to develop a future-oriented relationship, as Korea and Japan are the closest neighbors and cooperative partners who share the values of freedom, human rights and the rule of law and pursue common interests in security, the economy and the global agenda."

The presidential official indicated that Korea will continue to build on the thaw in bilateral ties resulting from President Yoon Suk Yeol and Kishida's numerous summits since last year. The two leaders' efforts helped normalize relations between the two countries amid ongoing historical disputes related to Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea.

Yoon and Kishida's revival of shuttle diplomacy, resolving a bilateral trade spat, has also contributed to stronger trilateral security cooperation with the United States in the face of North Korean nuclear and missile threats, culminating in the Camp David summit with outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden in August 2023.

On Friday, Ishiba, a non-mainstream figure, was elected as the new head of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) after five tries, setting him up to become the next Japanese prime minister. In turn, Seoul is poised to navigate diplomacy with new administrations in Japan and the United States in the coming months. The LDP has a parliamentary majority, meaning the party's leader becomes the country's prime minister. Last month, Kishida announced that he would not run for reelection after a series of political scandals hit the LDP.

Ishiba beat out nine candidates for the party leadership. Compared to his closest rivals, Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, who vied to become Japan's first female leader, and Shinjiro Koizumi, a former environment minister and son of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Ishiba was viewed by experts as taking the most forward-looking stance regarding Seoul-Tokyo relations, based on past remarks and interviews.

Ishiba notably criticized the hawkish Shinzo Abe administration's policies and has urged Japan to take a more humble approach to its wartime history. He has likewise indicated he is not keen on visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines 14 Class A war criminals from World War II.

Japan analysts have indicated that the new Ishiba administration will be an extension of the Kishida government, meaning a marked change in Japan's emphasis on cooperation with Korea and trilateral cooperation with the United States is unlikely. Experts generally believe an Ishiba administration will be positive for Korea-Japan relations, but Seoul shouldn't expect too much, especially as Japan will hold a general election next year.

Likewise, a Korean Foreign Ministry official said on Friday that Seoul and Tokyo would maintain various communication channels to sustain the "positive bilateral momentum."

In a commentary piece on the future of Japan's foreign policy published by the U.S. think tank Hudson Institute on Friday, Ishiba wrote, "The Asian version of NATO must also specifically consider America's sharing of nuclear weapons or the introduction of nuclear weapons into the region."

He said it would be centered around its alliance with the United States and a quasi-alliance relationship with Canada, Australia, the Philippines, India, France and the United Kingdom.

Japan and the United States are "deepening security cooperation with South Korea," Ishiba continued, adding that if "these alliances are upgraded, a hub-and-spoke system, with the Japan-U.S. alliance at its core, will be established, and in the future, it will be possible to develop the alliance into an Asian version of NATO."

Highlighting the transforming security environment, he noted that "Ukraine today is Asia tomorrow," comparing Russia with China and Ukraine with Taiwan. He underlined that the "absence of a collective self-defense system like NATO in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defense."

Ishiba pointed to the threats posed by North Korea and Russia's military cooperation and China's strategic nuclear weapons, noting that U.S. extended deterrence in the region "will no longer function" and has to be "supplemented by an Asian version of NATO, which must ensure deterrence against the nuclear alliance of China, Russia, and North Korea."

This, he said, must include the United States considering sharing its nuclear weapons or the introduction of nuclear weapons into the region.

The LDP has pushed to revise its pacifist postwar Constitution, which was written by the United States and forbids Japan from exercising collective self-defense, or the right to wage war, outside its borders.

A series of multilateral gatherings in the coming months could provide a venue for Yoon and the new Japanese prime minister to hold their first talks. A series of Asean-related summits is scheduled in Laos next month, as is the APEC summit in Peru in November.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]