Robert Ward hosts Sakata Yasuyo, Professor of International Relations at Kanda University, Victor Cha, President of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Jung-Hoon Lee, Dean and Professor of International Relations at the Graduate School of International Studies at Yonsei University. They discuss Japan–South Korea relations in light of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic normalisation.

Robert, Yasuyo, Victor and Jung-Hoon discuss: 

Evolution of Relations: From diplomatic normalisation in 1965 to people-to-people and civil society engagement, especially post-1998
Japan–South Korea–US trilateral alignment, institutional frameworks, and strategic consultation, notably the 2023 Camp David Summit
Future Prospects and Domestic Pressures: Economic strain, shifting public sentiment towards China, and cautious optimism in bilateral cooperation

The following books are recommended by our guests to gain a clearer picture of the topics discussed: 

Victor Cha, Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle, (California: Stanford University Press, 1990), 376pp.
Victor Cha, Powerplay: The Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2016), 352pp.
Victor Cha and Ramon Pacheco Pardo, Korea: A New History of South and North, (Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2024), 320pp.
Chong-Sik Lee, Japan and Korea: The Political Dimension, (California: Hoover Institution Press, 1985), 234pp.
Brad Glosserman and Scott A. Snyder, The Japan–South Korea Identity Clash: East Asian Security and the United States, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2015), 240pp.

We hope you enjoy the episode and please follow, rate, and subscribe to Japan Memo on your podcast platform of choice. If you have any comments or questions, please contact us at japanchair@iiss.org.

Date recorded: 30 June 2025 

Japan Memo is recorded and produced at the IISS in London. 

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