{
  "id": "RL30382",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL30382",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 101035,
      "date": "1999-12-03",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:40:39.011941",
      "title": "Japan-South Korea Relations: Converging Interests and Implications for the United States",
      "summary": "Since South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung's historic October 1998 visit to Japan, relations\nbetween Seoul and Tokyo have improved dramatically, to a point where arguably the two countries\nare at their closest ever. The improvement in bilateral ties has been accompanied by an\nunprecedented degree of trilateral coordination among the United States, Japan, and South Korea on\npolicy toward North Korea. In the short term, the impetus for better relations has come from two\nregional crises: North Korea's August 1998 launch of the Taepodong medium-range missile over\nJapan and the near-collapse of the South Korean economy in late 1997. Additionally, over the longer\nterm, warmer ties have been made possible by the gradual improvement in traditionally divisive\nissues, including Japan's chronic bilateral trade surpluses, South Korea's anti-Japanese trade\nbarriers, Seoul's wariness of Tokyo's policy toward North Korea, and competing interpretations of\nJapan's occupation of Korea and behavior in World War II. The more cooperative relationship\nbetween South Korea and Japan enhances regional stability, a major U.S. objective, and augments\nU.S. efforts to improve trilateral coordination on policy toward the Korean peninsula. In the\neconomic sphere, increased cooperation between the Japanese and South Korean governments will\npresent the U.S. with opportunities and challenges. \n  Shifts in Japan-South Korea relations affect activities and policies of concern to, among others,\nMembers and Committees with responsibilities or interests related to North Korean nuclear and\nmissile proliferation issues, inter-Korean relations, U.S.-Japan security relations, China's emergence\nas a regional military and economic power, and the U.S. negotiating position in the World Trade\nOrganization (WTO). Normally, the Japan-South Korea relationship  per se  generates\nlittle\nlegislative impact, but Congress periodically holds hearings and expresses its views on issues that\nare affected directly by changes in Tokyo-Seoul relations.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
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          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL30382",
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          "images": null
        },
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      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Asian Affairs",
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}