Looking at Japan's recent approach to the various issues between our two countries, you wonder whether it is a country that can be a good neighbor. First it makes the situation far worse than it had been in the past, and then when Korea responds with displeasure it either tries hard to pretend it is no big deal or turns the issue on its head and makes Korea the problem.
What the most recent issues all have in common is that they were all incited by the Japanese. Dokdo is an issue because Shimane's prefectural legislature is pushing to create a "Takeshima Day," Takeshima being Japan's term for Dokdo. Japan's ambassador to Korea added fuel to the fire by saying, in downtown Seoul, that "Takeshima is Japanese territory." Instead of trying to dissuade a move by a provincial government, Japan is openly playing to the same tune, making the problem worse in the process.
The same goes for the textbooks that distort history and glorify colonial rule. The highest ranking officials at Japan's education ministry, which is responsible for approving the country's school textbooks, have made things worse by issuing comments that openly support the historical distortions. When Korea gets angry, right-wing Japanese elements write it off as "anti-Japanese sentiment" and turn around talking as if they want a fight.
There is very little possibility that this series of provocations is coincidental or temporary. It is natural to ask fundamental questions about the Korea-Japan relationship in such a situation. If the future Japan aspires to is a revival that means a new nationalism that carries on the imperialist legacy of its history, then as a neighboring country Korea has no choice but to find adequate countermeasures.
Though late, there is still a way to calm the situation. The Japanese government needs to have Shimane abandon ideas about "Takeshima Day," and it has to either not approve of the textbooks with historical distortions or see to it that there are major corrections. There would of course have to be a commitment at the national government level that this does not happen again. Otherwise, this time around things will not stop at recalling Korea's ambassador to Tokyo or a reduction in exchange between the two countries. The Korean people need to have themselves prepared for a complete readjustment of relations with Japan.
The Hankyoreh, 14 March 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Can Japan be a Good Neighbor? |
