South Korea

==== Japan ====
{{Main|Japan–South Korea relations}}
{{See also|History of Japan–Korea relations|Japan–Korea disputes}}
[[File:Liancourt walleye view.jpg|thumb|The [[Liancourt Rocks]] have become an issue known as the [[Liancourt Rocks dispute]].]]

Korea and Japan have had difficult relations since ancient times but also significant cultural exchange, with Korea acting as the gateway between East Asia and Japan. Contemporary perceptions of Japan are still largely defined by [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japan's 35-year colonization of Korea]] in the 20th century, which is [[Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea|generally regarded in South Korea as having been very negative]]. There were no formal diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan directly after independence the end of World War&nbsp;II in 1945. South Korea and Japan eventually signed the [[Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea]] in 1965 to establish diplomatic ties. Japan is today South Korea's third largest trading partner, with 12% ($46 billion) of exports in 2016.<ref name="MIT-2018" />

Longstanding issues such as [[Japanese war crimes]] against Korean civilians, the [[Historical revisionism (negationism)|negationist]] [[Japanese history textbook controversies|re-writing of Japanese textbooks]] relating Japanese atrocities during World War&nbsp;II, the territorial disputes over the [[Liancourt Rocks]], known in South Korea as "Dokdo" and in Japan as "Takeshima",<ref>{{cite web |author=Kim Hee-sung |date=22 February 2008 |title=Professor from Japan Discovers Map Proving Dokdo Island is Korean Territory |url=http://www.dynamic-korea.com/news/view_news.php?main=KTD&sub=&uid=200800220395&keyword= |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514111833/http://www.dynamic-korea.com/news/view_news.php?main=KTD&sub=&uid=200800220395&keyword= |archive-date=14 May 2011 |website=DYNAMIC-KOREA.COM}}</ref> and visits by Japanese politicians to the [[Yasukuni Shrine]], honoring Japanese people (civilians and military) killed during the war continue to trouble Korean-Japanese relations. The Liancourt Rocks were the first Korean territories to be forcibly colonized by Japan in 1905. Although it was again returned to Korea along with the rest of its territory in 1951 with the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan does not recant on its claims that the Liancourt Rocks are Japanese territory.<ref>{{cite web |date=28 June 2012 |title=Dokdo Takeshima Island Liancourt Rocks The Historical Facts of the Dokdo / Takeshima Island Dispute Between Korea and Japan |url=http://www.dokdo-takeshima.com/dokdo-takeshima-related-historical-data |website=www.dokdo-takeshima.com |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=27 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627005210/https://www.dokdo-takeshima.com/dokdo-takeshima-related-historical-data |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, in response to Prime Minister [[Junichiro Koizumi]]'s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, President Roh Moo-hyun suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |date=17 March 2006 |title=President Roh Moo-hyun will not hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi until Koizumi stops visits to Japan's Yasukuni shrine |work=[[Voice of America]] |url=http://www.voanews.com/Korean/archive/2006-03/2006-03-17-voa12.cfm |access-date=15 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507103851/http://www.voanews.com/Korean/archive/2006-03/2006-03-17-voa12.cfm |archive-date=7 May 2008}}</ref> A summit between the nations' leaders was eventually held on 9 February 2018, during the Korean held Winter Olympics.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 February 2018 |title=Japan PM tells South Korea's Moon that 2015 'comfort women' deal is final |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-japan-abe/japan-pm-tells-south-koreas-moon-that-2015-comfort-women-deal-is-final-idUSKBN1FT06J |access-date=28 March 2024 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142914/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2018-japan-abe/japan-pm-tells-south-koreas-moon-that-2015-comfort-women-deal-is-final-idUSKBN1FT06J |url-status=live }}</ref> South Korea asked the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC) to ban the Japanese [[Rising Sun Flag]] from the [[2020 Summer Olympics]] in Tokyo,<ref>{{cite news |date=11 September 2019 |title=South Korea formally requests Japan's 'rising sun' flag be banned at 2020 Olympics |work=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/2020-olympics-tokyo-south-korea-japan-rising-sun-flag-ban-a9101086.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/2020-olympics-tokyo-south-korea-japan-rising-sun-flag-ban-a9101086.html |archive-date=24 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=11 September 2019 |title=South Korea asks IOC to ban Japan's use of 'Rising Sun' flag at Olympics |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-japan-olympics/south-korea-asks-ioc-to-ban-japans-use-of-rising-sun-flag-at-olympics-idUSKCN1VW1LG |access-date=14 September 2019 |archive-date=13 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913095332/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-japan-olympics/south-korea-asks-ioc-to-ban-japans-use-of-rising-sun-flag-at-olympics-idUSKCN1VW1LG |url-status=live }}</ref> and the IOC said in a statement "sports stadiums should be free of any political demonstration. When concerns arise at games time we look at them on a case-by-case basis."<ref>{{cite news |date=12 September 2019 |title=S. Korea urges IOC to ban Japanese imperial flag from 2020 Olympics |work=[[Kyodo News]] |url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2019/09/5097f6b5dca3-s-korea-urges-ioc-to-ban-rising-sun-flag-from-2020-olympics.html?phrase=Onaga,%20okinawa&words= |access-date=5 September 2020 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417211822/https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2019/09/5097f6b5dca3-s-korea-urges-ioc-to-ban-rising-sun-flag-from-2020-olympics.html?phrase=Onaga,%20okinawa&words= |url-status=live }}</ref>