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In diplomacy, the term between countries often reflects a country's attitude towards foreign affairs. In East Asia, when we refer to Japan and South Korea in our statements, we generally refer to them as "China, Japan and South Korea."
The continent is listed first because this is our own country, and when described, it is natural to put it first. Second, among the East Asian countries, the mainland is far greater than Japan and South Korea in terms of comprehensive national strength and international influence, so it should naturally be listed first.
As for why Japan is in front and South Korea is behind, it is not because of the distance of the relationship, but according to the comprehensive national strength and international influence of these two countries.
However, it is not that in the international community it is not without changing the order of names to indicate the closeness and distancing relationship between countries. For example, recently, South Korean President Yoon Seok-hyeol quietly changed the order in which South Korea used to refer to China and Japan.
Yoon Seok-yue recently attended the ASEAN Summit, at which Yoon suddenly changed the usual order of "Korea, China, and Japan" when referring to China and Japan, and changed his name to "Korea, Japan, and China". Yoon's change of tone clearly reveals some changes in the attitude of the South Korean government.
According to media reports, Yin Xiyue actually changed his tune a long time ago. In South Korea's National Security Strategic Guidelines issued in June this year, Japan has already ranked ahead of China. Also in earlier media interviews, when referring to Japan and China, the description "Korea, Japan, and China" was also very deliberate.
In fact, Yoon Seok-yue deliberately used a change in title to express the South Korean government's closeness to Japan. In the past, when describing the relationship between China, Japan and South Korea, it was generally referred to as "Korea-China-Japan". On the one hand, from the perspective of the country's comprehensive strength and international influence, there is nothing wrong with China ranking ahead of Japan. On the other hand, South Korea's relationship with Japan is actually not close.
There are also some historical origins, when Korea was invaded and colonized by Japan during World War II. For the Korean people, Japan is the aggressor who once invaded their homeland, and countless of their ancestors fell at the gunpoint of the Japanese. At the same time, the Japanese aggressors also left behind the comfort women issue and the labor problem.
The harm that Japan has inflicted on the Korean people is a scar in the hearts of the Korean people that cannot be healed. Since then, Japan has refused to admit guilt, did not admit the crimes they committed against the Korean people, and refused to apologize. Japan's attitude has further angered the Korean people, so in terms of national sentiment, South Korea has always been at odds with Japan.
Looking at South Korea's successive presidents, almost every president has a little anti-Japanese sentiment.
Former South Korean President Syngman Rhee took office at a time when South Korea was under intense pressure from the Korean War. At that time, in order to compete with the Soviet Union, the United States placed its own forces in South Korea. In order to consolidate its power in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States hopes that the relationship between Japan and South Korea can gradually ease, and eventually form a strong alliance between the United States, Japan and South Korea.
But South Korea's president at the time, Syngman Rhee, did not agree to the U.S. demands. On the contrary, he further strengthened patriotic education in South Korea, so that the new generation of Koreans remembered the history of Korea's colonial invasion by Japan. This also left a lead for South Korea's claim to Japan over the war.
With the further changes in the international situation, South Korea later became more inclined to get closer to Japan under the leadership of the United States. At this time, South Korean President Park Chung-hee himself was relatively close to Japan. Under the impetus of Park Chung-hee, Japan-South Korea relations gradually tended to ease.
But even so, Park Chung-hee continued the patriotic education of previous South Korean presidents, and also let Koreans who grew up during this period understand the suffering of their ancestors who were invaded and colonized by Japan.
From this, we can see that the relaxation of relations between Japan and South Korea and the gradual rapprochement are actually a trend led by the United States. In this trend, the current South Korean President Yoon Seok-yue is even more pronounced in his pro-Japan.
In March this year, Yoon Seok-yue publicly said that "Japan has apologized, and Japan and South Korea should no longer confront each other because of historical issues."
This has caused great anger among the Korean people. Many South Koreans have accused Yoon of being a "Korean traitor" and a "soft bone president" who has forgotten history and national positions. More Korean people mocked: Maybe in the future, the title will become "Japan, South Korea and China"!
In fact, the Japanese side did not appreciate Yin Xiyue's overtures and flattery. In Japan's view, everything Yoon does is just for his political career. He can neither represent the Korean people, nor the national feelings of South Korea as a whole.
If Yoon Seok-yue does not have a corresponding support rate among the Korean people because he is pro-Japanese, then he is likely to embark on the road of "anti-Japan" in order to gain the support of the people.
Therefore, Yoon Seok-yue's series of pro-Japanese behaviors after coming to power were not only unpopular with the Korean people in South Korea, but also seemed to the Japanese to be just expedient measures for his own political career. And the reason why Yin Xiyue frequently expressed pro-Japanese tendencies after coming to power is also because of the dominance of the United States behind it.
For the United States, the closeness of South Korea and Japan is conducive to achieving its goal of returning to the Asia-Pacific region. If the United States wants to control the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, it must put its own forces into the Asia-Pacific region, and Japan and South Korea are the best pawns in the eyes of the United States to control the situation in the Asia-Pacific region.
The United States wants to establish an alliance between the United States, Japan, and South Korea in the Asia-Pacific region to gradually approach China and Russia from the east and pose a geopolitical threat to China and Russia.
So in general, whether it is Japan or South Korea, they are pawns of the United States under the strategic layout. In the game between the United States and China and Russia, South Korea and Japan under the leadership of the United States itself are the best bargaining chips for the game.
For the United States, the return of South Korea and Japan is a good thing, but for China, Russia, and North Korea, it poses a threat to entrenchment in the east.
However, history is hard to forget, and the suffering caused to the Korean people by Japan's invasion and colonization of Korea will not disappear with time. And a Japanese act like Yoon Seok-yue, which makes almost flattering overtures to Japan in order to comply with the intentions of the United States, is destined to be spurned by the Korean people.