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SEOUL: This is supposed to be Japan-South Korea friendship year, marking the 40th anniversary of normalised relations between the former colonial master and its subject. But on the streets of Seoul last month, Japan has been nothing but foe.
Years of trying to repair relations could be undone by a fiery dispute over a cluster of volcanic islands halfway between Japan's Shimane prefecture and the South Korean port of Uljin.
Known as Dokdo to Koreans and Takeshima to Japanese, a dormant dispute over the islands' ownership erupted last month when Shimane passed a law designating February 22 as "Takeshima Day" in recognition of the day in 1905 when the prefecture declared its ownership of the islands. Seoul says historical records show they are South Korean.
The row has fuelled nationalist sentiment and reignited anti-Japanese sentiment left over from the 1910-45 occupation. South Korea is known for its vibrant protests but even by local standards the recent reaction has been noteworthy. Newspapers labelled Japan's claim a hostile act bordering on a declaration of war. A mother and son cut off their little fingers with a meat cleaver outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul, saying they planned to send their stubs to Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister.
Japanese officials have been taken aback by the strength of feeling to what they regard as an act by an individual prefecture. Officials rue the fact that so much good work in mending relations has been undone.
Japanese culture' has blazed a diplomatic trail in South Korea, which recently legalised Japanese comics and films. In Japan, South Korean stars, such as Bae Yong-joon -- who starred in a popular soap opera -- are mobbed by fans. Sapporo's snow festival this year even featured an ice-carving of "Yon-sama", as the Korean star is known respectfully in Japan.
Of late, all that goodwill melted. Koizumi, who also has territorial disputes with Russia and, most pressingly, with China, called for a cooling of passions. "There are issues of history to deal with but we should not be mired in the past," he said. "We should deal with the situation in a forward-looking manner by considering how to develop friendship and overcome emotional conflicts."
Those words fell on deaf ears as civic groups and citizens in South Korea urged boycotts of Japanese goods. The government ordered the closure of five pro-Japanese websites, saying they could harm youngsters' health.
The dispute has even achieved the not insignificant feat of uniting North and South Korea. Seoul is considering importing a Dokdo stamp issued by Pyongyang.
Shim Jae-hoon, a political commentator in Seoul, says the eruption is the result of accumulated tension over Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine, considered a nationalist outrage in China and South Korea, and over continued disputes about differing versions of Japan's war record.
There are economic implications, too. "Koreans regard this as an attempt by the Japanese fishing lobby to move into this area, which is rich in cod and squid," Shim says.
The sea around the islands may also contain the equivalent of 600m tons of liquefied natural gas. Japan is South Korea's third-largest trading partner, last year receiving $21.7bn worth of South Korean products and sending goods worth $46.1bn to South Korea.
More worryingly, there is a potential military dimension. South Korea is increasing its aerial surveillance of the islands after a Japanese spyplane flew within 16-km of the disputed territory recently. Seoul has filed an official protest over the Shimane legislation and warned it is willing to risk links with Tokyo over what it considers a matter of sovereignty.
Chung Dong-young, chairman of South Korea's National Security Council, said: "The series of recent Japanese actions make us fundamentally doubt whether Japan intends to coexist with its neighbour."
There may be a domestic element too. Analysts in Seoul say the government has allowed the dispute to escalate partly to divert attention from domestic problems.
"Dokdo is like manna from heaven," says Kim Byung-ki, professor of international relations at Korea University. "The past couple of years have been difficult because the economy is not doing too well, the US-South Korean alliance is not on a level footing and by-elections are approaching."
With Washington ratcheting up the pressure on South Korea to take a harder line against Pyongyang, the dispute also allows South Korea to show the US it will not be pushed around. Kim explains: "It sends a strong signal to Washington that if they continue pressuring us to adopt stronger measures, there could be negative Korean nationalist side-effects."
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