An overview of the Japan–Korea talks from 1951 to 1965, focusing on the Syngman Rhee Line, the fisheries rights dispute over Takeshima (Dokdo), postwar compensation, residency status issues, historical perceptions, and the Cold War security context with U.S. involvement.

June 8, 2016

The following continues from the previous chapter.
All emphasis in the text other than the heading is mine.

Japan–Korea Talks
The talks held from the negotiations that began on October 20, 1951, until the conclusion of the Japan–Korea Basic Treaty in 1965 are referred to as the Japan–Korea Talks, or the negotiations for the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea.
These negotiations included many issues, such as the method for restoring diplomatic relations between the two states that had been extinguished by the annexation of Korea by Japan, the fisheries rights issue over Takeshima (Dokdo), which South Korea continued to illegally occupy after the “Syngman Rhee Line,” postwar compensation (reparations), the residency status of Koreans residing in Japan and the repatriation support program to North Korea, historical perception issues, and the return of cultural properties.
Because of President Rhee’s anti-Japanese stance, as he had continued to view Japan as an enemy as an independence activist, the negotiations were contentious from the preliminary stage.
However, in the end, agreement was reached due to Cold War security considerations and the wishes of the United States.
At the time, South Korea was a “battlefield state,” while Japan was a “base state.”

Immediately before the Talks
Preliminary Talks
On January 9, 1952, at the preliminary talks held immediately before the Japan–Korea Talks, the Japanese side proposed the return of cultural properties “to improve the atmosphere between Japan and Korea.”

Syngman Rhee Line
See “Syngman Rhee Line.”
As a precondition for dialogue, Syngman Rhee insisted that Japan must first offer an apology and sincerely express “remorse for past mistakes,” and that only then could the issue of claims asserted by South Korea be addressed.
However, the Japanese side countered that Japan also had claims it could assert against South Korea.
In response, Syngman Rhee, in retaliation, adopted a hardline policy and on January 18, 1952 (Showa 27), immediately before the Japan–Korea Talks, South Korea unilaterally declared the Syngman Rhee Line as a military boundary in the Sea of Japan.

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