Japan's new PM should try to recover S. Korea-Japan relations

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Yonhap) -- Japan's parliament elected former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda as the new prime minister Tuesday. The 54-year-old Noda, who was elected Monday to head the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, succeeds Naoto Kan, who officially resigned earlier Tuesday along with his Cabinet after nearly 15 months in office.
Noda is likely to complete the reshuffle of the ruling party, finalize his ministerial lineup and launch Japan's new Cabinet by early next week at the latest, according to reports from Tokyo.
Noda is believed to maintain the major policies of his predecessor, but his future is not expected to be very smooth as various pressing challenges lie before him, including the post-tsunami recovery and nuclear crisis, a sluggish economy and the skyrocketing Japanese currency, which is hurting Japan's exporters.
It is a matter of interest if Noda, dubbed a fiscal conservative and economic expert, will successfully cope with the numerous economic problems and restore public confidence in politics by curing the divides in the ruling Democratic Party.
It is, however, the diplomatic policies of the new Japanese leader that we are more interested in.
It is worrisome that the perception of history and the political tendencies of Noda are regarded as extremely right-leaning.
Noda has angered South Korea with comments about convicted wartime leaders revered at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where Japan's war dead, including the "class-A" war criminals, are enshrined. In a press conference on Aug. 15, Noda reiterated his claim that the wartime leaders should no longer be seen as war criminals, causing the South Korean government to harshly respond. He made similar comments in 2005.
He also claimed that Japan should exercise its collective defense right.
There is a concern that the inauguration of the new leader in Japan may cause problems between the two countries to intensify. South Korea-Japan relations have been severely soured and are heading to their worst level in recent history following the recent provocative acts by the Japanese government and lawmakers regarding the South Korean island of Dokdo and anti-Korean Wave protests by rightist Japanese organizations.
We would like to warn Noda not to repeat his ludicrous remarks about the past history of the two countries, which will only worsen bilateral relations. We hope the new Japanese leadership recognizes that efforts to recover Seoul-Tokyo relations will do good for the peace and stability of Northeast Asia and for the interest of the Japanese government and its people.