This year, Japan removed South Korea from its 'white list' of trusted trade partners (which is unprecedented) citing 'national security reasons'. Essentially, Japan painted S.Korea as a military threat to Japan, while limiting materials crucial to manufacturing semiconductors (semiconductors make up 20% of S.Korea's exports). S.Korea responded by cancelling the military intelligence sharing agreement, so the two countries now have no cooperation on regional security threats such as N.Korea & China. The S.Korean GP also started a massive boycott on Japanese products and travel, with has crippled several businesses such as UNIQLO, Japanese beer (over 90% decline in sales), and Nissan pulling out its branch in S.Korea just a few days ago. Tourism to Japan has also dropped by 80% in August.

These are very real consequences to the worsening ties between the two nations, and I don't think some young people 'not giving a crap' on political tensions provides any comfort in this situation. Because fundamentally, how these two countries view their modern history and national identities- are intertwined. Japan's imperialistic ambitions on Korea started almost immediately along with the Meiji restoration, beginning with the first unequal treaty signed by force in 1876, and by the 1940s, Koreans were essentially second-class citizens in their own country- almost all the land exploited by Japanese nationals and their collaborators, students banned from speaking Korean, and thousands forced into wartime labour and sexual slavery.

Japan's insistence to hold onto its version of history which justifies the colonisation of Korea and downplay numerous war-crimes is the problem that re-opens wounds to the present day. So I find it irritating that this dispute is portrayed as something between equals, rather than the victim-perpetrator relation that it truly is. It's ridiculous enough that the current prime minister of Japan is the grandson of a class A war criminal who worked closely with Hideki Tojo - and personally directed hundreds and thousands of Korean forced labourers to work in deadly conditions. Sure, the crimes are not his, but a sincere expression of regret is the bare minimum you could do if you had a sense of decency. And yet you can bet that there's no chance in hell that Shinzo Abe will express remorse for past crimes and simultaneously stain his family's legacy.