Japan s Nuclear Dilemmas In A Challenging New Era – Eurasia Review eurasiareview.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurasiareview.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Despite being allies of the United States, South Korea and Japan did not have a direct security partnership during the Cold War. During the Korean War, South Korean President Syngman Rhee threatened to shoot Japanese forces first if they arrived to “help” Korea from the communist invasion. Japan, officially a pacifist state with “self-defense forces,” also did not affirm its security commitment to the neighboring democracy. The two countries animosities over past history and their reliance solely on U.S. security commitment were factors that limited bilateral security partnerships for decades.