Despite the vast research done the comfort women issue and its impact on the South KoreaJapan relations, little attention has been paid to its political significance in connection to the U.S....Show moreDespite the vast research done the comfort women issue and its impact on the South KoreaJapan relations, little attention has been paid to its political significance in connection to the U.S. security interest. During the Obama administration, due to the increasing fluidity in the geopolitical situations in Northeast Asia, the United States diverted from its traditional ‘avoidance’ strategy. As such, it attempted to actively interfere in the historical disputes between its two most important allies to foster the U.S.-South Korea-Japan trilateral security alliance. The 2015 comfort women agreement is a case where such efforts materialized. Thus, by examining the case of the 2015 agreement, this article argues that the United States influenced South Korea and Japan to strike the historic agreement for the sake of its security interests. Through combining three different methodologies used for measuring influence, this article will first identify the U.S.’ security preferences related to the agreement. It will also analyze how the United States attempted to influence the South Korean and Japanese government and how such influences affected both Prime Minister Abe and President Park to reach the agreement. Lastly, by examining a military pact signed between the two countries after the agreement, it will demonstrate how the U.S.’ preferences were achieved through the comfort women agreement.Show less
Japan and South-Korea reached an agreement in December 2015 to settle the issue on the comfort women "finally and irreversibly". The comfort women's issue has dominated relations between Japan and...Show moreJapan and South-Korea reached an agreement in December 2015 to settle the issue on the comfort women "finally and irreversibly". The comfort women's issue has dominated relations between Japan and South-Korea ever since it rose to prominence during the early 1990's. This thesis looks at the motivation of the current LDP government of Japan behind the agreement. The agreement is places into a historical context of Japanese post WWII history and politics. The main motivation appears to be the quest within Japan, and to some extend outside of Japan, for "normalization". In order to become a normal country the mainstream line of the LDP has adopted a policy called "apology diplomacy" which allowed them to keep the comfort women's issue from entering the political present, thus keeping the issue from truly being resolved.Show less
