Identity politics and Asia‑Pacifc security relations: understanding the foundation of Australia–Japan versus Japan–South Korea defence relations

Abstract

How can we explain the stronger defence relationship between Australia and Japan relative to that of seemingly more important strategic defence partners, Japan and South Korea? Australia, Japan and South Korea have similar political and economic systems and share an important military ally—the USA. One important difference among them is shared threat perception. While Japan and South Korea perceive more direct threats from North Korea and China, Australia’s perception of China is more nuanced and less direct. Therefore, it seems natural to assume that Japan and South Korea would boast a closer security relationship. However, the recent track record for security cooperation between these three countries proves that this is not the case. This paper shows that the conflict and convergence of identity factors have played a significant role in shaping defence relations between these three major democratic countries in the Asia Pacific: Australia, Japan and South Korea.