Japanese revisionists and the ‘Korea threat’: insights from ontological security

Abstract

This article contributes to the debate on Japanese security. Drawing on insights from ontological security, it challenges conventional understandings that China and North Korea are Japan’s main security threats. It argues that South Korea poses a powerful threat to the Japanese right-wing revisionists’ perception of Japan. The revisionists have attempted to secure Japan’s identity from the ‘Korea threat’ by labelling South Korea a ‘non-democracy’, and this tactic has been taken up by the Japanese government as well. The article concludes by pointing out that such moves could unwittingly result in the emergence of security dilemmas between the two main democracies in Northeast Asia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 This, of course, does not take away from the fact that these threats are socially constructed. However, it is worth bearing in mind that traditional approaches to security studies will focus on regime type and the presence of material threats, such as the possession of weapons of mass destruction, the existence of disputes over territory or natural resources, or changes to the balance of power and the consequent emergence of security dilemmas. The point is that this focus allows many observers to readily identify the PRC and DPRK as security threats to Japan, while remaining blind to ontological threats that seemingly non-threatening states (such as the ROK) possess.

2 This headline count was carried out using the Nichigai Magazine Plus database.

3 The survey was carried out by Tōhan, and the results are at <http://www.tohan.jp/bestsellers/upload_pdf_past/141201bestseller_2014y.pdf>, accessed 30 November 2015.

4 Seiron, a monthly opinion magazine affiliated with the Sankei shinbun, has run special issues titled ‘Win the history war!’ (Rekishi sens ō ni katsu!) (May 2013) or ‘Stand up to the escalating history war’ (Gekika suru rekishi sensō ni tachimukae) (April 2014)

5 It is worth noting that Kō’s article is part of a special issue discussing the ‘Pitiful third-rate power, Korea’ (Awarena santōkoku, kankoku).

6 This can be observed from the fact that Beijing’s regular criticisms of the US’s poor record in race relations are hardly taken seriously by the international community, because the PRC is widely seen as an illiberal state unable to guarantee key human rights to its own citizens.

7 The UK government, for instance, was criticised for intimidating a Guardian journalist by detaining the journalist’s partner for nine hours under the Terrorism Act. See Human Rights Watch, ‘UK: detention appears aimed at intimidating journalists’, <https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/19/uk-detention-appears-aimed-intimidating-journalists>, accessed 2 December 2015.

8 See <http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/korea/data.html> and <http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/korea/data.html>, respectively; accessed 27 April 2018.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shogo Suzuki

Shogo Suzuki is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Politics, University of Manchester. His research interests encompass International Relations theory with reference to East Asia, Sino-Japanese relations, and Chinese and Japanese foreign policy.