A Process Tracing Study: The ‘Comfort Women’ Issue’s Persistence and Salience in South Korea–Japan Relations

Abstract

This thesis examines two questions: (1) Why has the ‘comfort women’ issue become so important to South Korean identity? (2) Why do diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan over the issue escalate during some periods and not during others? The study develops hypotheses for each question using the Explaining-Outcome Process-Tracing method. The aim has been to craft minimally sufficient explanations to uncover and analyze the drivers of the conflict.

The study’s findings show the important role ‘comfort women’ activism has played in keeping the issue alive and making it salient in South Korean politics and identity. Furthermore, the study contributes to the literature on political leaders’ influence on the countries’ bilateral relationship by finding that the combination of left-wing nationalist presidents in South Korea and right-wing prime ministers in Japan has led to the most tension in the diplomatic relationship. The study also infers the connection that activism has to the bilateral relationship through the pathway of collective historical memory, and as such, contributes to the literature on activist civil societies’ role in hindering reconciliation.

Keywords: ‘comfort women’ issue, South Korea-Japan relations, conflict salience, hindered reconciliation.