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Though small, the spontaneous show of support was nothing short of astonishing. Forced to co-host the World Cup after making rival bids, Japan and South Korea have a relationship that's like a marriage gone sour. Japan owes much of its cultural development to Koreans. Its emperor acknowledged last year that he has blood ties to the peninsula. But the two Asian neighbours haven't been on good terms for centuries, and particularly not since Japan's brutal colonisation of Korea from 1910 to the end of World War II in 1945. Today, they remain at odds over history books, fishing rights and military budgets. They even disagree about what to call the narrow strip of sea separating them: it's the East Sea to South Koreans and the Sea of Japan to Japanese. The Korean government is so wary of Japanese influence that it has a long-standing ban on imports of Japanese movies, TV shows and video games. Animosity among older people remains strong. But, to the surprise of many, young people are using the co-hosting arrangement as an opportunity to take a fresh — and less angry — look at each other. Naomi Shibata, a 19-year-old college student, can tell you all about the Korean rock stars, movies and food she knows from Japanese television and weekly fashion magazines. ``South Korea is so close. It's only natural that things that are cool there are popular here, too,'' Shibata said outside a department store in Harajuku, Tokyo's teen fashion centre. Across Japan, teenagers are packing concert halls featuring South Korean singer BOA and dining on bibimbap, a Korean rice dish. In Seoul, youngsters listen to music on Sony CD players and load up on Japan's Hello Kitty accessories. ``There's been a change in perception on both sides, especially among youngsters,'' said Masao Okonogi, a Keio University professor of Korean studies. ``In South Korea, there is less resistance to things Japanese.'' Other experts warn the interest is superficial and will likely fade after the World Cup final is played on June 30. ``It's impossible for any sporting event, even the World Cup, to fundamentally change the way the two countries relate to each other,'' said Katsumi Sato, director of the Modern Korea Research Center, a Tokyo-based private think tank. ``Nothing will change until officials on both sides stop manipulating bilateral relations for their own political ends.'' Sato said politicians in Seoul have often lashed out at Tokyo to rally public support, while Japanese lawmakers have opposed making amends for the wartime past to appease conservative constituents. After annexing Korea in 1910, Japan conscripted hundreds of thousands of Koreans as soldiers and forced thousands of others to work in mines and factories. During World War II, Korean women were forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. ``I don't know about the younger generations, but Koreans my age or older will never look fondly on Japan,'' said Koo Yon-haeng, a 65-year-old retired office worker. ``Even if they knelt down on the ground and begged for forgiveness, the bitter grudge would never go away.'' South Korean outrage was fanned again last year when Tokyo approved a disputed history textbook and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited a shrine to his country's war dead — including convicted war criminals. South Koreans alleged that the textbook whitewashed wartime atrocities and that Koizumi's shrine visit smacked of a return to militarism. The run-up to the World Cup was also quickly pulled down into childish squabbles. One typical — and particularly nasty — fight was over whether it should be called the Japan/Korea World Cup or the Korea/Japan World Cup. But goodwill gestures have cropped up recently. Koizumi has visited Seoul twice since last fall to smooth things over. Shortly after his second trip, the two countries agreed to resume military exchanges that had been temporarily cancelled. A senior Korean government official issued a congratulatory note after Japan won its first game. Economic ties, meanwhile, have grown rapidly. Corporate Japan invested $ 772 million in South Korea last year — more than triple the $ 255 million invested in 1995. And last year's trade between the two countries was estimated at $ 43.1 billion with Japanese corporations turning to South Korea for heavy manufacturing because of lower labour costs. Still, old suspicions die hard. In a poll earlier this year by Japan's Yomiuri newspaper and the South Korean daily Hankook Ilbo, only 23 per cent of South Korean respondents said they trust Japanese. About 55 per cent of Japanese felt South Koreans could be trusted. About two-thirds of South Koreans polled said they thought bilateral relations remain poor, and some 44 per cent of Japanese shared that view. — AP
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