Key Asian Allies Close Ranks Amid Xi, Trump Pressure

After I passed through security to enter the Blue House presidential complex in Seoul more than a decade ago, a high-definition television screen caught my eye. It was broadcasting a live image of a South Korean flag flying over an islet in the Sea of Japan. And it spoke to a fierce dispute at the time with Japan.

Then-President Lee Myung Bak had steadily increased his nation’s presence on the contested Dokdo islands (known as Takeshima in Japan), sparking Tokyo’s ire. Economic and financial ties were damaged. In August 2012, the tensions became farcical when Lee sent back to Tokyo a letter from then-Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, and Japan’s Foreign Ministry simply refused to accept the returned item — leaving it in limbo presumably forever after.