The United States is appealing to its two closest allies in East Asia to try harder to get along.  South Korea and Japan are increasingly at odds over nationalist rhetoric and actions coming out of Tokyo that one influential American lawmaker is calling “provocative”.

“It is very much a diplomatic priority for the United States that the friction and the tension between these two extraordinarily close friends and allies of the United States be reduced, and be reduced quickly,” said Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia before the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia. 

Maryland Senator Ben Cardin is the chairman of that subcommittee.  He is directly faulting Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for disputes over Japan’s responsibilities for World War II atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre and the use of imprisoned civilians as sex slaves for imperial troops on the march in Asia in the 1930s and 1940s.

“The Japanese prime minister’s rhetoric on these issues is increasingly concerning to many,” said Cardin, a member of President Barack Obama's Democratic Party.  Abe’s government is revisiting the apology Japan issued 20 years ago for the abuse of female sex slaves, and it is feared the apology will be diluted – South Korea's President Park Geun-hye has warned that a review of the apology would only isolate Japan.  Cardin also criticized Abe for visiting the Yasukuni War Memorial Shrine, which venerates Class A war criminals along with rank and file soldiers.

Abe’s actions have earned scorn around Asia, but particularly in Seoul.  A recent survey in the South Korea capital found that respondents ranked North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un above Abe in a survey of global leaders.