Asia in the Cold War Structure

Photo by NASA (licensed under CC0 1.0)

Japan waged a fierce war with the United States.After the war, Japan walked the path of democracy.Conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union broke out during World War II.The United States participated in the war to secure its voice within the postwar framework.Both the Korean War and the Vietnam War broke out during the U.S.-Soviet conflict.The United States disliked Soviet forces reaching the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula.The agreement on the 38th parallel was reportedly made as a secret agreement during the Yalta talks.

Japan is geographically neighboring country to United States. The Japanese archipelago has a unique terrain, with Russia on the north and south, Kyushu on the Korean Peninsula, China on the Korean Peninsula, and Okinawa on the south.For the United States, Japan's topography is attractive to Asian defense, which is same as Japan's understanding of national defense.On the contrary, Japan and the United States would not have been able to recover so much without the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China emerged and Asia's defense line moved south.The Japanese archipelago also took an important position in this band.It will work together within the framework of Quad.Thus, Japan-U.S. relations have developed amid changes in the environment surrounding Asia.What made this possible is not only the idea of defense of Japan but also idea to protect liberal countries in Asia.

There are strange presidential candidates who say that the Korean Peninsula was divided by occupation forces, but in essence, Korea is a country born in the Cold War structure.It is useless to lament the division of North Korea, which has other forms the basis of national ideology.What can we do to the world on our own initiative, not to blame others?That's always missing.