Diplomatic normalization between the Republic of Korea and Japan came in 1965. The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea was signed on June 22, 1965, to establish a basic relationship between Japan and the Republic of Korea following liberation from Japanese occupation in 1945. It took almost twenty years just to begin normalizing the relationship between these two neighboring countries.
However, Japan Air Lines (JAL) inaugurated a flight between Seoul and Tokyo more than a full year before the Treaty was signed. JAL made a maiden flight from Tokyo to Seoul on April 15, 1964. Why would any flight between these “still hostile” countries be even contemplated at all? How could this be possible even before the normalization treaty?
