As the U.S. and Japan forge closer relations in the face of growing Chinese power in the region, the U.S. appears to be siding with Japan in the long-standing dispute over history between Korea and Japan, raising concerns among many Koreans.

The tight rapport between the U.S. and Japan was shown in U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s email interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun, in which he said that Korea, Japan, and the U.S. “must look toward the future.” While the U.S. “appreciates the historical sensitivities” in this relations, the potential gains of cooperation outweigh “yesterday’s tensions and today’s politics,” Carter said.

This reminder to bury the past and look toward the future echoes remarks made by Wendy Sherman, undersecretary for political affairs at the U.S. State Department, in February. In a speech on relations between the U.S., Korea, China, and Japan, she said, “To move ahead, we have to see beyond what was to envision what might be.” That remark was taken here as taking Korea and China to task for not improving relations with Japan.

Even on the issue of the Japanese Imperial Army’s sexual enslavement of women during World War II, U.S. officials appear to be ready to accept Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s skirting the fact of the Japanese government’s involvement.

In an interview with the Washington Post last month, Abe described the “comfort women” ― the term used by the international community for military sex slaves ― as victims of “human trafficking” incited a lot of opposition from Korea. In Korea, the term “human trafficking” is translated as “insin maemae” which carries a strong connotation of common prostitution conducted for monetary gains.

More problematic than the terminology, however, is that Abe conveniently failed to mention who the perpetrators were ― the Japanese Imperial Army. This is consistent with his denial of the Japanese government’s involvement in military sexual slavery.

He said his “heart aches” when he thinks about those women. That is an expression of his private sentiment, and does not come close to an apology. There is no assumption of responsibility in that statement at all.

Hence, it came as a rather rude surprise when Daniel Russel, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun that Abe’s description of the military sex slaves as victims of “human trafficking” was a step in the right direction in recognizing history. He said that recognizing the past helped bolster the efforts between the U.S. and Japan to prevent abuses against women and human trafficking and sent a “positive message.”

To whom was this “positive message” aimed at? The elderly military sex slaves who are demanding that the Japanese government apologize officially and take responsibility? The issue for Korea is Japan’s assumption of responsibility: Joint U.S. and Japanese efforts to prevent abuses against women and human trafficking are, understandably, not the priority for the ageing victims of military sexual slavery. Russel’s remarks were insensitive to the victims and appear to be informed by Japan’s spin on the issue.

For all of these “slights” by U.S. officials, perceived or real, the Korean Foreign Ministry is largely responsible. Foreign Minister Yoon Byung-se recently gave a speech to his envoys praising the efforts of his ministry, claiming that it was being criticized by those who do not know the “higher equations” of diplomacy. Higher or not, his “equations” are not arriving at desired outcomes.