During the ancient era, the southern region of the Korean Peninsula served as the closest port for economic trade and cultural exchange between the Japanese archipelago and mainland Asia.

Relations, however, are greatly complicated by a number of issues, including territorial claims on Liancourt Rocks and conflicting views on mutual history.

Under the leaderships of South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, and Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, both countries are attempting to restore ties and trust with each other.

[3] Between 1961 and 1979, South Korea's head of state was dictator Park Chung-hee, who had served in the Imperial Japanese military during World War II.

After the war, during a private lunch with Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, one of the masterminds behind the pre-war Manchukuo economy, Park compared his own South Korean military clique with "the young people who succeeded with Meiji restoration in Japan."

[13] Others view Japan's trade restrictions as partially being an excuse to retaliate against suspected intellectual property infringement by South Korean companies.

[18][19] A removal from the list enables METI to perform restrictions on any export to South Korea, including those outside the current three key tech-imports, on the basis of national security concerns from Japan's view.

[21] In March 2023, the dispute over semiconductor materials was resolved ahead of a summit, with South Korea withdrawing its WTO complaint and Japan dropping its export restrictions.

[28] According to the New York Times, Most mainstream historians agree that the Imperial Army treated women in conquered territories as spoils of battle, rounding them up to work in a system of military-run brothels known as comfort stations that stretched from China to the South Pacific.

The tribunal's judgment found Emperor Hirohito and other Japanese officials guilty of crimes against humanity and held that Japan bore state responsibility and should pay reparations to the victims.

In July 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution demanding that Japan apologize for forcing women into sexual slavery during World War II.

[28][33] On December 13, 2007, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that demands the Japanese government to apologize to the survivors of Japan's military sexual slavery system.

This agreement, according to which the issue would be "finally and irreversibly" resolved, was reached after both sides experienced great pressure from the United States who was looking to preserve their trilateral alliance.

The announcement came after Japan's foreign minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Seoul for discussions with his counterpart Yun Byung-se, following moves to speed up talks.

[40] On June 25, 2021, the Japanese government released a statement that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga supports declarations made by past administrations that recognize and apologize for Japan's aggression in World War II concerning the comfort women issue.

[41] During World War II, Japanese Empire conscripted as many as 7.8 million Koreans into forced labor, including military service and sex slavery (a.k.a.

[45] After Japan announced its plans, the South Korean government swiftly condemned the decision and summoned the Japanese ambassador to Seoul to issue a strong protest.

[54][55][56] The dispute escalated further in June 2021 as the South Korean parliament adopted a resolution condemning Japan's waste water discharge plan, which had passed with support across the political spectrum.

[64] After the end of World War II, South Korea banned Japanese cultural imports such as music, film, TV shows, anime, video games, literature (manga).

[83] The disagreement continued to escalate prompting a comment from the United States Department of Defense about ongoing instability in the Asia Pacific region.

[85] Days later, Japan summoned the South Korean ambassador to protest Seoul's decision to put an end to an intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo.

[86] In November 2019, Japan and South Korea agreed to hold formal talks in December in a step to improve relations after recent trade disputes.

[87] Amid rising concerns over China's assertiveness and North Korean threats, Japan and South Korea significantly strengthened their defense ties, marking a notable shift in regional alliances.

In a trilateral meeting with US Chairman Gen. CQ Brown and South Korean Adm. Kim Myung-soo, Japanese Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida highlighted China's attempts to alter the status quo and North Korea's missile launches and arms transfers to Russia.

The meeting, demonstrated the deepening cooperation between Japan and South Korea, facilitated by improved political relations under presidency of Yoon Suk Yeol.

This cooperation was further solidified by joint military exercises and high-level meetings, driven by the Biden administration's efforts to foster unity against common regional adversaries.

[88] Since Lee Myung-bak's visit to the Liancourt Rocks and repeated demands for the emperor to apologize again in 2012, the Japanese public's image of South Korea deteriorated significantly.

[89][90][91] South Korean tourism to Japan saw a huge drop of ~65% in the final three months of 2019 compared to the previous year, as ties between the two countries soured significantly.

[92] The Diplomatic Blue Book, a document published by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in its 2018 version, in the section relevant to relations with South Korea, stated simply: "Their good relationship is essential for peace and stability in the Asian-Pacific region", removing the foregoing part from the previous year: "The Republic of Korea (ROK) is Japan's most important neighbor that shares strategic interests with Japan."

The tone has seen a continuous downward trend from the peak in 2014 which went as "The Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan are the most important neighboring countries to each other, which share fundamental values such as freedom, democracy, and respect for basic human rights.