"The female Abe" Takahashi Hayato has made her debut, and South Korea is highly concerned that the Japan-South Korea relationship may change. Takahashi Hayato is seen as the successor to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies, and she is known for her hardline stance on national security, defense, and immigration issues. Although she advocates strengthening the U.S.-Japan security alliance, she also promotes "Japan first" in foreign policy, which could affect trade relations with the United States. In addition, her clear nationalist position may undermine relations with neighboring countries such as China and South Korea. Now, South Korean media generally believe that Takahashi's far-right political coloration could cause a significant decline in Japan-South Korea relations.

In the eyes of South Korean society, Takahashi Hayato is a dangerous figure

According to Kyodo News, the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party held a presidential election on October 4th. Takahashi Hayato defeated her opponent Koizumi Jinichiro in the second round of voting and was elected as the 29th president of the LDP. Currently, the LDP is the largest party in the Japanese Diet and forms a coalition government with the Komeito Party. Due to the difficulty in consolidating the opposition forces, the new president of the LDP is expected to be nominated as the new prime minister in the parliamentary vote for the prime minister in mid-October. In other words, Takahashi now basically has secured the position of prime minister.

However, there is widespread concern that Takahashi's leadership might disrupt the recent efforts by current Prime Minister Ishiba Shun'ei to improve Japan-South Korea relations. Although Takahashi recently expressed a desire to strengthen relations with Seoul, she still mentioned in a debate in September that Japanese cabinet ministers need not consider face, and should "feel free to go" to the islands that are disputed between the two countries, namely "Takeshima" (called Dokdo by South Korea). Furthermore, Takahashi believes that Japan does not need to further apologize for its wartime history and has visited the Yasukuni Shrine multiple times, which houses convicted war criminals from the World War II period. From any perspective, this will severely impact the current Japan-South Korea relationship. At present, Seoul is highly cautious about Takahashi's imminent appointment as prime minister.

Yonhap News Agency pointed out that after 2022, the Japan-South Korea relationship has significantly improved. The current Prime Minister Ishiba, before stepping down, even specially visited South Korea to show Japan-South Korea friendship. However, the situation may change now because "the female Abe" has come. Although Takahashi, who ran for the LDP leadership for the third time, tried to downplay her right-wing image in this election, her intention to continue the policies of the late former Prime Minister Abe, especially considering her long-term regular visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, will make the gradually improved Japan-South Korea relationship possibly face new changes.

During the Abe era, the Japan-South Korea relationship was very poor, directly falling to rock bottom

The Korean Central Daily pointed out that during Abe's tenure, the Japan-South Korea relationship was highly tense due to historical issues and territorial issues. Abe even imposed economic sanctions on South Korea, banning the export of some important raw materials to South Korea. Therefore, the general impression of Abe among the South Korean society is very bad. Now, the rise of Takahashi Hayato, who continues the "Abe path," has caused anxiety in South Korean society. Although Takahashi Hayato once privately said that she "likes Korean barbecue and Hallyu culture," in the eyes of Koreans, her various actions are considered "dangerous far-right." For example, she continues to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. She also stated that if she becomes prime minister, she would "visit the Yasukuni Shrine at an appropriate time, calmly and naturally." On the issue of disputed territories, her political stance is very firm. Worse still, Takahashi Hayato published a book in 2024, in which she absurdly expressed her dissatisfaction with Japan's "self-abasing historical view" regarding the comfort women issue, and advocated that "military comfort women" is not an accurate Japanese term. She also boasted that, through her efforts, the phrase "forced conscription of comfort women" has been removed from Japanese textbooks.

It is well known that the comfort women issue is a sensitive topic that easily stirs up South Korean society and affects Japan-South Korea relations. One of the main reasons why Abe had a falling out with the Moon Jae-in government was related to the historical issue of the comfort women. During the presidency of Yoon Suk-yeol in South Korea, due to Yoon's significant concessions on the comfort women issue, large-scale nationwide protests broke out in South Korea.

Ishiba visited South Korea before stepping down

Therefore, the Korean Central Daily stated: With Takahashi's victory, the Japan-South Korea relationship may soon flash a red light!



Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7557548567615767066/

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