Trade disputes in 2019 between South Korea and its former colonial ruler accomplished the seemingly impossible feat of further intensifying the already anguished relations between the two nations. Following the Japanese government’s decision to limit the export to South Korea of chemicals necessary for the production of semiconductors, sales of Japanese products in South Korea and the number of commercial flights to Japan plummeted. Such heated responses are well-precedented—colonial history still looms large in the public consciousness, for instance with respect to the ongoing clashes on the