The Japanese government's response to Korea's claim that it Japan still has responsibility to bear for its inhumane illegal activities such as with the "comfort women," made as Korea released the documents relating to the Korea-Japan Treaty. Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi said simply that Japan has a "different position" than Korea does, and chief cabinet secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda avoided saying anything at all.
Remembering the "reckless comments" (mangeon) by the top stars of Koizumi's cabinet regarding historical issues, it becomes useless to hope that Japan's leaders would have a change in thinking with a greater perspective. What we want to make clear is that seeking to hold Japan legally responsible is not about going to unreasonable ends to advance Korea's interests. The reason we are disappointed is because Japan is unable to behave in a manner becoming of a "mature power" with such economic strength. The distant dream of constructing a Northeast Asian community can be made a reality only if issues of the past are concluded fairly. It would be too much to expect true cooperation and reconciliation that brings the whole region together if Japan and its neighbors are unable to end the consuming confrontational situation because of history.
Whatever about the 1965 Korea-Japan Treaty was the result of long negotiations and debates, the fact that it got relations off to the wrong start remains unchanged. It was a document that normalized relations which had been twisted since forced annexation and cruel colonial rule, but nowhere in it is there any mention of regret about colonial rule, let alone an apology. The issue of the comfort women was not even discussed in public until the late 1980's, so there's no way such inhumane crimes were going to be dealt with during the negotiation process. If Japan does not assume a good-faith response, the only option left to us is informing the international community of our neighbor's very shameless behavior.
The Hankyoreh, 29 August 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Japanese Gov't Needs to Be Big About the Past |
