Row reveals weakness of superficial reconciliation

The diplomatic row that has erupted between Japan and the Republic of Korea once again highlights the raw nerve in the region that the current administration in Japan keeps rubbing with its stance on history.

In the latest development over the sensitive issue of "comfort women" that has long marred its relations with the ROK, Japan recalled its envoy on Monday after a bronze statue symbolizing the women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during its occupation of the Korean Peninsula was reinstalled outside Japan's consulate in the port city of Busan.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also called on the ROK to stick to the bilateral deal inked in December 2015 that was intended to settle the issue once and for all.