Historically squeezed between its two giant neighbors, China and Japan, South Korea had long been perceived as an underdog with a fuzzy cultural identity. In Asia, however, Japan’s leaders are not waiting for the Seoul summit to take a closer look at South Korea.
历史上一直处于中国和日本这两大邻国的夹缝之中，韩国长期以来被外界视为文化特征模糊的弱国。 不过在亚洲，日本领导人不等首尔峰会就已经开始密切关注韩国。 韩国曾经是日本的殖民地（1910－1945），那里的本土居民曾被视为劣等民族。 而今天，韩国经济10年来的年均增长率为5%，而日本同期的年均增长率只有0.42%。