, Columnist
Tall Fences Make Bad Neighbors Out of Japan and Korea
A lack of trade, investment and migration between the countries feeds a chilly relationship.
Feeling the pinch.
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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To outsiders, it may seem like the deepening rift between Japan and South Korea has blown up out of a clear blue sky.
For all the wrangling over the legacy of Japan’s 35-year colonization of the Korean peninsula, which ended in 1945, there’s far more on paper to join than to separate them. Both are northeast Asian democracies that have close military and economic ties to the U.S.; potent exports of electronics, cars and cultural products; and a love of seafood and beef.