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SEOUL: All eyes will be on Japan on August 30 as voters go to the polls in an election that could put an end to five decades of Liberal Democratic Party's(LDP) rule.
Japan's neighbour South Korea is no exception, especially since the opposition – which seems to have a good shot at winning in this election – has said it wants to build better trust with its Asian allies such as China and South Korea.
Expectations are high in South Korea that relations can improve with Japan under a new leadership.
Many Koreans still have bitter sentiments against Japan for its harsh colonial rule for 35 years from 1910.
Many women have been holding rallies every Wednesday since 1992 outside the Japanese embassy in central Seoul.
They are the so-called comfort women – young girls who were forced to be sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the second world war.
More than 200 of these women came out in public in the early 1990s to reveal their war-time suffering.
Now, less than 100 of them are alive.
The comfort women issue is just one of the several territorial and historical issues that have strained relations between Japan and South Korea.
Though it will be difficult to mend ties in the short run, Koreans are hopeful relations will improve if the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) wins in the upcoming election
DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama, who will become the new prime minister of Japan if his party wins the elections, has said he would not visit the controversial Yasukuni shrine for war dead as long as convicted Japanese war criminals are honoured there.
Analysts said ties between the two countries are likely to improve with the DPJ’s more apologetic stance towards World War Two.
Said Lee Sook Jong, president of private think-tank East Asia Institute: "The DPJ is more trying to accommodate the South Koreans’ emotional thinking... and also they tried to apologise for the past wrongdoings, imperial history and colonial history. In that aspect, I think bilateral relations will improve."
Experts also said it is possible strained relations between Japan and North Korea will also improve as the DPJ is expected to be more flexible in dealing with the communist state.
However, it is not going to be easy, especially since it concerns the abduction of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang.
Analysts have mixed views on whether a victory by the opposition could change relations between Japan and the United States.
Said Lee: "The DPJ is more pro-Asia and they will take a more balance approach between US and Asia. But this does not mean that they will not value the US alliance. They do. But the DPJ is likely to engage in East Asian communities more actively.
"From this policy shift, I think they will value South Korea more. I think the strategic value of South Korea will be much more seriously considered by DPJ leaders."
- CNA/yb
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