Discussion
On May 30 2023, we held No.276 Japan Specialist Seminar. With around 20 participants, Mr. Byungchul Lee, Part-time lecturer in Aoyama Gakuin University made a presentation about “The Diplomatic Support and Significance of the Nakasone Administration to Korea”. The Summary is as below.
Introducing the topic of the presentation, the presenter stressed the importance of Japan's international role as an "economic power" in the new Cold War structure in the 1980s by looking into Japanese diplomacy during the Nakasone regime.
Specifically, the Nakasone regime's diplomatic support and significance for South Korea in multilateral consultations were explained by examining how Japan cooperated in two cases: North Korea's accession to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and South Korea's cross-approval plan.
After the presentation, questions and answers followed. There was a question as to why North Korea's entry into the International Maritime Organization was dealt with as the first example. The presenter replied that it is important that the two cases show that Japan cooperated with South Korea in pursuit of peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas and creating international conditions for them under the new Cold War.
In the case of North Korea's membership in the International Maritime Organization, the coexistence of the two Koreas was discussed at the international level, and in the case of the inter-Korean cross-approval initiative, the two Koreas were presented in parallel.
In addition, the seminar was concluded after discussions on Japan's passive or cautious attitude when cooperating with Korea, the recent atmosphere of dealing with Nakasone's foreign policy in Japanese foreign teacher academia, and the implications of this topic.
