Noh’s commemorative address for the March 1st Independence Movement is drawing quite a bit of attention, mostly because he used the opportunity to slam Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro. I guess it had to happen, now that Koizumi has made it clear that he intends to continue his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine on Tokyo, and it is election time, so if Korean IT companies and college kids are going to ride the “Hate the Japs” wave, the Prez might as well, too:
Roh, in a speech marking the 85th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement against Japanese colonial rule, said, “If there’s one piece of advice I’d like to give Japan, it’s that while citizens and one or two politicians engrossed in their own popularity may frequently make reckless statements that hurt us, at least national leaders shouldn’t,” according to the Chosun Ilbo daily.
Nice translation. Anyway, he went on:
Chosun Ilbo quoted Roh as saying that Japanese leaders “shouldn’t think that everything’s been resolved just because Korean political leaders don’t insist on talking about changes in the Japanese legal system or unresolved problems between Korea and Japan.”
Actually, that rubbed me the wrong way, mostly because Noh has no right whatsoever to comment on legal changes within Japan, especially because later in his speech, he says:
“Whether you’re pro-American and anti-American cannot become a yardstick to evaluate us.” He said, “We must strengthen our autonomy step by step and build up the abilities of an independent nation, and let’s evaluate ourselves on whether what we’re doing is necessary or unnecessary in achieving that goal.”
If you’re going to stress your autonomy, make sure you don’t make comments that could be seen as infringing on the sovereign rights of other states, even if those sovereign rights just happen to be Japan’s. Anyway, back to the main point, he urged Japan to help Korea hold back its righteous fury:
“Our citizens are restraining themselves, and in particular, the [Korean] government in restraining itself, in the belief that restraining hurtful talk will help in building the future we must make for ourselves. Japan, too, must do its best so that both Korean citizens and the Korean government are able to restrain themselves.”
Jeeze, if only Noh would only talk to Kim Jong-il like that. Anyway, like I said, his speech represents, in some ways, the best and worst in Noh. You can fault Noh for a lot of things, but one thing you can’t fault the guy for is a lack of sincerity. Those comments might very well have been made on the spot — they weren’t in his pre-released speech. Of course, Cheong Wa Dae might have planned this all before hand as a cheap election ploy, but regardless, Noh does have a way with words. Now, I say worst, because guess who wasn’t let in on what Noh was going to say beforehand. That’s right, the Foreign Ministry, which immediately went into damage control mode as soon as the speech ended:
An official at the Foreign Ministry said today, ?€œThe March 1st Independence Movement commemoration speech President Roh made had nothing to do with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and [the speech] was written at Cheong Wa Dae,?€? and ?€œwe saw the preliminary script, but were not told of the statements [concerning Koizumi].”
Nice move there. Of course, one might interpret this as a sign of just how low the Foreign Ministry has sunken in the eyes of the President. Regardless, one shouldn’t be making a speech like that without giving the Foreign Ministry some advanced notice, because they’re the ones who are going to have to do the explaining.
The Japanese, as far as I know, haven’t said much, and what they have said is likely to piss people off even more:
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, in reaction to Roh’s remarks, told reporters that both Japan and South Korea must work to resolve disputes over history.
“Both sides should make efforts to deal with the issue” of different interpretations of the history of Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, Fukuda said, adding that there is no change in Japan’s “deep remorse and heartfelt apology” expressed in a 1995 statement by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and a 1998 bilateral joint statement.
I can’t imagine that’s going to go over too well, especially not with the general elections coming up.
Be sure to check out SEB’s and the Infidel’s take on the speech, too.
10 Comments
Comrade Noh can certainly talk the talk.
But where is the spending needed to replace USFK’s role?
“Whether you’re pro-American and anti-American cannot become a yardstick to evaluate us.” He said, “We must strengthen our autonomy step by step and build up the abilities of an independent nation, and let’s evaluate ourselves on whether what we’re doing is necessary or unnecessary in achieving that goal.”
I translate this as, “Don’t pay attention to the anti-US nature of our thoughts and plans yet. Wait until we have the infrastucture to put it into full effect.”
Just the fact that the foreign minister would even try to do some damage control goes to show how disorganized the Noh administration is at this point. I sometimes wonder if I am in a very bad dream, just waiting for Noh’s 5 years to be over without any stupid thing happening within SK, so we can all get things back on track.
But where is the spending needed to replace USFK’s role?
Korea has the 13th largest (or so) economy in the world with a GDP of $931 billion (per CIA Factbook link below) so if Korea is determined to get the U.S. military out, the total spending needed to replace the U.S. presence would only amount to about $3 billion (see KT link below) or a mere .3% (less than 1%) of GDP … (This probably overstates the cost since $1.7 billion of the USFK’s annual expenditures is for salaries and the Korean soldiers who would replace the American ones would make ALOT less in salary but off-setting that is that fact that the GDP is stated in PPP terms so ???). In any case, the cost would be a burden but certainly not that big of one.
The Koreans aren’t rich but they ain’t that poor either. I understand that this is probably hard for you to admit considering how much you like to look down on Koreans (as far as I can tell, it??р꽓s only reason you maintain an interest in Korea even though you are back home in Canada (well that and I think you actually enjoy the fights that you have with certain idiot Korean posters ignoring Ben Franklin’s advice that you should never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference.)
The real issue isn??р꽓t the government budget but the wider political/economic fall-out from an American troop withdrawal. In other words, S&P may downgrade Korea??р꽓s sovereign debt rating; the U.S. may start hammering Korea alot more about its protectionist trade policies, etc.
Comrade Noh can certainly talk the talk.
That comment reminds me alot of the comments I hear from the conservative Koreans that you hate so much. My conservative Korean acquaintances are always calling Noh (and DJ before him) a “bbal-geng-ee” (Red/Communist). Neither wants to collectivize farms, turn the chaebol into state-owned industries but no matter Koreans don’t like complexity so taggin people with simple labels is right up their alley (not that Americans don’t do this alot as well). I??р꽓ve said it more than once but the fact that Noh is an appeaser to the North makes him no more a Communist than N/ Chamberlain was a Nazi for appeasing Hitler (and Noh isn??р꽓t handing Austria and Czechoslovakia to Kim Jong Il just some petty cash and sacks of rice).
CIA World Factbook:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publica.....os/ks.html
Korea Times:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpag.....511980.htm
GDP Rankings:
http://www.photius.com/rankings/gdp_2003_0.html
ari(w)rong
“I think you actually enjoy the fights that you have with certain idiot Korean posters ignoring Ben Franklin’s advice that you should never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference”
This was probably a reference to me,
Mr. ari(w)rong, thank you for the flowers. Yeah, I was such a fool to try to interact with Mr. Kimchipig on a reasonable way. I?쨈ll never do it again…
Sugar:
Not necesarily a reference to you … I was thinking more of the idiots that Kimchipig is having pissing matches with on his blog. They are trying to send him viruses or something or other. Unless you’re one of those people, I’m not talking about you.
Anyway I stopped going to the site b/c the tone is too hostile to Koreans even for me and, more importantly, at some point Kimchi stop posting any content … other than the the derogatory names he’s calling the people sending him viruses or nasty messages or something.
ari(w)rong,
He has a blog? I can only see his mail-adress sometimes, when he comments here at Marmot?쨈s. But I can imagine what kinda slur-stuff he is presenting…
hanin,
After Noh was elected and started stumbling right from the beginning, I thought he could still be a good president for Korean society —- in that I think it could help if Korea sees that it can survive well enough with a bad president. I’ve heard some older Korean adults tell me Park Chung Hee had to lead the way he did, because he was the only man who could hold the nation togther —- and such which I don’t believe, but that is often how authoritarian leaders cement their rule.
I still think this could be the end result after Noh leaves office.
But, it depends on how much the Korean people follow him. I guess it would help if another party had its act together, but it worries me that if the new Uri Party wins big gains in the next election, it could mean Noh is starting to convince people his whacky way is right….
Hopefully by the time of the next presidential election, one or two adequate to good candidates will run and lead Korea in a better direction…
(w)rong,
He has a blog? I can only see his mail-adress sometimes, when he comments here at Marmot?쨈s. But I can imagine what kinda slur-stuff he is presenting…
In fact, he is the one who also calls himself “seaofjapan” and has been sending me viruses.
He has also posted on my comments many times.
I don’t get it. By far, South Korea’s three biggest, and most important, trading partners are the U.S., Japan, and China. But Roh thinks it’s important to piss off all three of them.