Foreign ministry summons of Japanese ambassador

The Korean government has responded to the Japanese government’s measure on a "comfort women” statue in Busan, but the response was hardly powerful. Analysts say that the suspension of President Park Geun-hye’s authority due to impeachment motion has resulted in deterioration of Seoul’s diplomatic capability.

“We deeply regret the Japanese government’s decision,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Joon-hyeok said on Friday. “Regardless of challenging bilateral issues to address, our country once again emphasize that the two countries should continue to improve bilateral relations based on trust.”

Seoul seems to have chosen to take low-key reaction against Tokyo, again after its defensive response to Beijing’s retaliatory measures against the planned deployment of the terminal high-altitude missile defense (THAAD) system in South Korea.

The ministry spokesman displayed a cautious reaction toward Japan's recalling Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Joon-kyu to Seoul as countermeasure to Tokyo’s recall of its ambassador to Korea Yasumasa Nagamine. “If we opt for a ‘tit for tat’ approach, the situation could go from bad to worse,” the spokesman said. As for Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se’s summons of the Japanese Ambassador to Korea to protest on Friday, the ministry also called it a "talk," not complaint.

“Japan explained to us that the Japanese ambassador’s visit to Tokyo ‘was made for him to report on situation in Korea,” said a South Korean government official. “Since the visit was a symbolic measure, we are keeping a close watch on the situation.”

“Japan is displaying dual faces by making an amicable gesture to the U.S. through the Japanese prime minister’s visit to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and taking provocative actions against neighboring countries through Japanese Cabinet members’ visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and its protest against the girl’s statue,” said Kim Seok-woo, former vice minister of at the Ministry of Unification. “As Korea cannot afford to form confrontational fronts with both China and Japan, Seoul should react cool-mindedly."

Watchers say China and Japan are taking the toughest diplomatic plots to influence the next South Korea administration in anticipation of an early presidential election, but South Korea has lost both teamwork and agility to cope with fast evolving diplomatic environment, with Seoul only responding passively and defensively. “The South Korean government is currently lacking a control tower with the suspension of President Park’s authority,” a diplomatic source in Seoul said.

Soong-Ho Cho shcho@donga.com