Testy relations with Japan are posing a major hurdle for President Park Geun-hye’s third-year diplomacy as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walks a fine line over territorial and wartime history issues, complicating her efforts to mend ties and build a foreign policy legacy.

The Abe administration has been stepping up sovereignty claims to the easternmost islets of Dokdo through diplomatic papers, school textbooks and teaching guidelines, while seeking to whitewash Japan’s atrocities during World War II, such as the sexual enslavement of Korean and other women.

The ongoing relay of provocations appears to be dwarfing other formidable challenges. North Korea is being shoved to the back burner, with a protracted cross-border standoff putting at a standstill a series of initiatives that Park touted would help rebuild trust and bring forward a reunification. 

The rivalry between Washington and Beijing, each of which officials here claim to have “the best relationship ever” with, seems to be only deepening, demanding Seoul’s decision in delicate issues such as bringing in advanced U.S. missile assets and joining a China-led development bank.

All of them have come together to stoke a sense of crisis, yet criticism is growing over Seoul’s facile attitude. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se recently came under fire after he dismissed the view as “defeatist, self-deprecating and toadyish.” He said the country’s sandwiched position was a “blessing,” not a source of dilemma, urging chiefs of diplomatic missions not to “bother with irresponsible criticism that lacks agony.”

A top concern is that the strain between Seoul and Tokyo is threatening to precipitate “history fatigue” in the government and academic circles in Washington, powered in part by Japan’s extensive lobbying.

While acknowledging Abe’s need to address past wrongdoings, including in a planned speech at a joint session of U.S. Congress on April 29, more people there are leaning toward the view that regardless of what the premier says, it will be unlikely to meet South Korea’s expectations, diplomatic sources say.

Some also raise issue with the Park government’s strictly rigid attitude and lack of practical approach, which they say hinders a crucial three-way partnership to fend off rising North Korean threats.

At a seminar in Washington in late February, Wendy Sherman, undersecretary for political affairs at the U.S. Department of State, called disagreements on history and territory issues between South Korea, Japan and China “frustrating,” taking a veiled swipe at Seoul. “Nationalist feelings can still be exploited, and it’s not hard for a political leader anywhere to earn cheap applause by vilifying a former enemy,” she said.

In an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun released Wednesday, newly minted U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter called for enhancing trilateral security cooperation between the U.S., South Korea and Japan, saying the three nations must “look toward the future.”

“The U.S. appreciates the historical sensitivities in this relationship, but we believe the potential gains of cooperation ― the opportunities that exist for both our two long-time allies, and the entire region ― outweigh yesterday’s tensions and today’s politics,” he said.

With pressure increasing for a foreign policy legacy, experts and even some officials stress that South Korea should devise a more active and realistic strategy and ramp up diplomacy with the U.S. to induce a sincere apology and repentant attitude toward history from the Abe administration.

The government and ruling Saenuri Party agreed Wednesday to set up a task force to better handle relations with Japan and expand cooperation between the sides.

During a meeting of Yun and lawmakers, Rep. Na Kyung-won, chair of the National Assembly’s foreign affairs and unification committee, criticized Seoul’s responses to Tokyo’s territorial and historical provocations as “repetitive, routinely and rhetorical.”

“I think the time has come for a fundamental review of our ‘quiet diplomacy’ given that Japan is ratcheting up its claim to Dokdo,” Na said.

“We are struck out while Abe is playing fire with history,” a diplomatic source said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. “There need to be more thorough strategies and tactics and action plans for future provocations. It’s better late than never.”

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)