Explainer: History, islets and rulings behind tension between S.Korea and Japan Reuters, November 22, 2019 / 8:58 PM SEOUL (Reuters) - The animosity between Japan and South Korea is entwined with the history of Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean peninsula, the mobilization of forced labor at companies, of women in wartime brothels, and a row over the ownership of islet..