By SHELTON BUMGARNER
Marmot’s Hole Guest Blogger
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized today for the “suffering caused by Japanese military aggression” and promised his nation would “never again go to war.”
Sixty years after Emperor Hirohito exhorted his subjects to “bear the unbearable” and accept defeat, memories of the war that killed millions in Asia still bedevil relations between Japan and its neighbors, particularly China and North and South Korea.
“Japan caused huge damage and suffering to many countries, especially the people of Asia, with its colonization and aggression,” Koizumi said in a statement.
“Humbly accepting this fact of history, we again express our deep remorse and heartfelt apology and offer our condolences to the victims of the war at home and abroad,” he said
[...]
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said previous remarks by Japanese politicians had raised doubts about the sincerity of apologies and urged Tokyo to genuinely reflect on its past.
While the Japanese are busy with their usual shuck and jive about being sorry, the Koreans are worried about “misinformation” being spread about them online:
The errors are wide ranging, such as factual errors about the nation’s history and culture to the names of the Cabinet. Among them are frequently spotted errors like references to the “Sea of Japan” for the body of water between Korea and Japan, instead of the name Korea uses, the “East Sea.” Also seriously targeted are references to the Japanese name, ‘Takeshima’, for Korea’s easternmost islands of Dokdo which undermines Korea’s established sovereignty over the islands.
You refrained from naming the Web sites which rectified the wrongful references, however, in the fear of possible moves by Japanese authorities to change them back.
“A prime example of what the unit is doing is the case with Sunderland University in the U.K.. Their web page referred to the Korean national costume as ‘Korean Kimono,’ instead of its proper name “Hanbok,” he said.
Happy (Korean) Independence Day!
35 Comments
First of all, what does “the Japanese are busy with their usual shuck and jive about being sorry” mean? Can you expound on your flippant remark? As for the KOIS “Error Correction Unit,” like the VANK-ers some of the supposed “errors” are just a case of political one-upmanship with Japan: “You refrained from naming the Web sites which rectified the wrongful references, however, in the fear of possible moves by Japanese authorities to change them back.” Pretty much sums it up.
I used “shuck and jive” because I don’t know how much I really believe the Japanese when they say they’re sorry. They’re not sorry for what they did, they’re sorry they lost.
It just doesn’t seem in their nature to be really sorry for such things.
Maybe I’ve been in Korea too long.
I just thought the correction unit piece was amusing given what was going on with Japan. I felt like the Koreans were saying to the Japanese — “Yea, yea, yea, you’re sorry, but Dokdo is still Korean, damn it!”
Shelton, you’ve been in Korea too long. At the very least, I believe then PMs Hosokawa and Murayama were genuinely sincere when they issued their apologies. The problem is not so much the apology-givers as the apology-underminers.
I need to use “shuck and jive” more.
I give it another two weeks before a Japanese minister says something else to undermine it all again. It never fails, just watch.
Kushibo,
The problem is not the apology-givers; it is the “What-good-is-an-apology-without-compensation” apology-receivers. It is the Koreans who have gone from saying “the Japanese haven’t apologized,” to “well the apologies were not sincere,” and to, finally, “what good is an apology without action, which means “compensating us again.”
The problem is the Koreans who spent their Liberation Day bashing the Japan of 60 years ago instead of considering the Japan of today. It is the Koreans who spent their Liberation Day sucking up to gulag-heaven North Korea instead of thanking the people who actually liberated them. Were there any major ceremonies in Korea in which the United States was even mentioned?
As for apology-underminers, you cannot expect everyone to agree on different aspects of history, unless the person was born and raised in North Korea, or maybe even South Korea. Almost everyone has a different opinion of history, and it is not undermining the apology of the Japanese Prime Minister for a Japanese to express his or her opinion. And it is certainly not undermining the Prime Minister’s apology for a Japanese to claim Dokdo/Takeshima or to attend ceremonies at Yasukuni Shine since the Prime Minister did not apologize for either of those.
As for Bumgarner’s “it doesn’t seem in their nature to be really sorry for such things” comment, I would like to know exactly what he was referring to when he said “such things” and what research he did to come to his “nature”-based conclusion?
When the average Joe Kim can distinguish better between different sorts of foreigners, their nations, and their cultures, then he will have the right to go around trying to correct “misconceptions” about Korea. Until then, Koreans would better concentrate on more positive methods of self-publicity.
In this specific instance, I’m pretty much just going on my gut feeling: Japan is the United States of Asia (other than losing WWII) and thus it just doesn’t seem logical that they would in their hearts be willing to accept that they Did A Bad Thing during World War II.
Some of this “gut feeling” comes from being an American and some of it comes from being an American Expat Living In Korea Longer Than a Year.
I don’t have any facts to back this feeling up. It’s just my personal feeling.
Shrug.
The Marmot’s Hole is a blog, not a newspaper, although I try to uphold newspaper standards when it comes to gathering and presenting information.
I was kind of…huh…teasing the Japanese by writing what I wrote. I didn’t mean to…upset anyone, Japanese, or otherwise.
Amen. I don’t expect necessarily that you expats resident in Korea can always actively challenge xenophobia and ethnocentrism whenever you encounter them — but at least you can avoid joining in with the general refrain.
If you habitually agree with Japan-bashing statements by the Koreans you work and reside with, you help to reinforce and validate their views.
I’m not saying you should refrain from challenging Japan on specifics (textbooks, war memorials, etc) but surely you can be objective enough to agree that pre-1945 Japan is gone forever. Their armies were smashed, the hearts of their cities were burned out, millions of them were killed, I really do think it made a actual difference.
Especially you should challenge Japan-bashing when you sense that it’s an excuse by ROK citizens to avoid the many various unpleasant topics pertaining to the North. From 6000 miles away this seems so glaringly obvious as to be the leading candidate for the current Korean version of “the emperor’s new clothes”.
I meant “Amen to #6″.
How many thousands of times do the Japanese have to apologize? If the Koreans had any self-confidence they’d get over it. But, actually every reference to to Dokdo or East Sea vs. Sea of Japan is an indication that Corea’s Esteem-O-Meter is at a nadir.
Actually, Korea’s esteem will really go up when their elected officials start worshiping at Kim Jong Il’s masoleum. That’ll be the way to raise that Esteem-O-Meter. Screw those eeeeevil Japanese.
check this out: http://www.japanfocus.org/article.asp?id=360
Come on, you can’t say that Shelton’s view of the Japanese is ultra-leftist because he’s been in Korea too long. I mean, this blog seems to be full of ultra-rightists because they’ve been in Korea too long.
??
Extremely low violent crime rates (gun-control), a well enforced border protected by military who aren’t off playing world police (Little oppourtunity for arms/narcotic smuggling and illegal immigration), a pretty nice well-subsidized health care system, a good social welfare network, exteremely high higher education/literacy rates, and a well developed and convenient public transportation system… I guess I can see how Korea might turn someone a little leftist. Unless you’re a nut-job anarcho-libertarian such as myself.
OK this is not totally on topic, but computer industry commenter Bob Cringely (not his real name) mentioned this about Japanese apologies:
The typical Japanese executive will apologize for anything EXCEPT what he has actually done wrong. The weather, lunch, your hotel room are all fair game, but if he’s missing a deadline, all you’ll get is stony silence.
So the comments about “shuck and jive” may be on the mark. Frankly, I think the reluctance to apologize is pretty much universal throughout East Asia out of fear of loss of status.
I personally think the apology issue is just not worth pursuing any further. Korea has probably already gotten all it is ever going to get from Japan, and anyway, has far more pressing issues to deal with.
Speaking as someone who lives in China, no one in Japan should apologize unless the apology is an official one from the parliament of Japan. Otherwise the apology simply won’t be reported. Not a word will be said in papers. If, on the very very very slight chance it may be reported her, the apology will be found wanting. (although, if ya think about it, Koizumi knows his apology won’t make a damn bit of difference, so that does increase the likelihood that it is a sincere apology). There literally are regular weekly newspaper articles in the English paper here about Japan did this or that during the war.
JYC good quote about Japanese apologies.
‘korea has probably gotten all it is ever going to get out of this…’ jyc
that’s right. the koreans need to move on and get over their need for japanese aproval. they should focus on promoting their image; they could start by reading that guy’s post on another thread about the presention of korean food in the west. the guy’s observations were shrewd and on the mark. his comments made wonder: if i had a korean restaurant, how could i go about appealing to non koreans?
1. put some nice art in it and use high quality dishware. buy flat screen tv and place so that all can see. historical drams only with the idea of promoting korea’s artistic heritage. and white folk’s eyes seem always drawn to art with asian motifs. the drama ‘myongsong hwanghu’ would draw their attention simply for the costumes.
2. maintian high degree of cleanliness.
3. major emphasis on meat dishes. i think quite few white folk would like tung shim kui but they never get there because for many of them, their first experience with korean food is their last. btw, no twenjang with the kui. you serve kochujang, ok?
4. limit panchan to those that westerneres might like: kongjabat (black beans), cucumber kimchi, roasted kim (seaweed), slightly boiled beans sprouts, and beef in soy sauce. no communal panchan.
5. spruce up english explanations of korean food. i once went to a k restaurant that described ‘kopchang chongol’ as ‘gut’s casserole’.
6. always promote mandu and serve it deep fried.
anyway, know that was unrelated…
I know I will get lambasted for being overly semantic but….Korean Liberation Day is more accurate than “independence” day…In the spirit of some of the ‘ungratefulness of Koreans’ stories that get written here and on GIKorea…I would like to point out that the process of becoming ‘free’ of Japanese rule was a direct result of the allies defeat of the Japanese at the end of WWII. Independence suggests self-realization of freedom. I won’t say that Koreans did nothing for their own independence (history would say otherwise) but in the face of so many who died to win the war (those who fought as well as those innocents at Hiroshima and Nagasaki) against the Empire we cannot forget that August 15 is also V-J day (victory over Japan)…it was the day that Korea was liberated from more than 30 years of oppression largely by the blood of people who were not Korean.
Happy Korean Liberation Day!
they could start by reading that guy??s post on another thread about the presention of korean food in the west.
Nulji what threat/post are you referring to?
Thais seem to have done quite well promoting Thai food in the U.S. I don’t know how much it differs from “authentic” Thai food, but I doubt it is drastically dumbed down for American taste. Koreans could do the same, but as I believe that individual also pointed out, Korean restaurateurs in the U.S. by and large have no interest in doing so. Korean food, like the Korean language is for Koreans. The food is too spicy and the language too difficult for foreigners, goes the prevailing meme.
All these “we want SINCERE apologies” is bull shit. I mean, no government “sincerely apologizes”. And if Koizumi were infact “sincere” on an individual basis, what is so great about that? We’ve got millions of people in Japan who are “sincerely sorry”.
And these stupid “underminers” claims. Jeesus. Do they want the Japanese to arrest them or something? Ever heard of freedom of speech?
Korean should quit bitching about “sincere apologies” and better use that energy for something meaningful, like complaining about education, compensation etc.
Oh, and the VANK-ers. These Uyoku-jerks give me a headache…
As always, if you asked S. Korea (forget the norks here, they’re hopeless) and China what it would ultimately take for them to let go of the past, in words, deeds and of course cash, it’s doubtful they would agree to anything–it’s too politically expedient for domestic consumption to keep Japan “guilty.” Why don’t they enter into a pan-Asian coalition with the Phillipines and other countries affected by colonial-era and WWII Japan and put some closure, as they say, to this? Well, because they are too nationalistic and selfish, along with China being guilty of its own genocide that it hasn’t owned up to.
To be strictly fair, I think you do have to include Japan along with the others as far as nations that are unwilling to let go of the past. Yasukuni Jinja is very queer and creepy, and makes even liberal minded, non-nationalist people that are friendly to Japan and Japanese people, uncomfortable. Japan still has a serious complex as a victimized and defeated nation even 60 years after the war has ended.
This of course doesn’t excuse the excesses of the anti-Japan movement in Korea and China, but Japan hasn’t exactly been leading by example here.
You’re right JYC, Japan needs a sea-change in its approach to its own past. I was referring to the self-absorbed nature of the gov’ts in China and S. Korea.
dg611,
Koreans used to call August 15, ??????? (Liberation Day), but sometime in the mid 1980s, during the early stages of a growing anti-American movement, many South Koreans decided that the word “liberation” sent the wrong message. They felt that “liberation” implied that Korea was liberated by a third party (i.e. the United States), which they did not like to admit, so they started using the name, ??????? (Return-to-the-Light Day), which was more ambitiguous and could imply that Koreans achieved independence on their own. Now, the word, ????????, is not even listed in South Korean dictionaries. However, strangely enough, I think the North Koreans still call August 15, ???????.
Isn’t ????? still in a very common colloquial use about the end of the war and liberation from Japan, only so that the name of the day is ????????
Now I’m basing all this on what KCNA writes, but in North Korea ???? seems to be common term. Today’s top news:
?????????? ??????? 60??? ?????
(????? 8?? 15???? ??????????????)??????? ????????????????? ??????? 60?????? ??????????? ????????? ????????????? ???????????????? ???????? ??????? ???????? ??????????????????? ??????? ???????? ???????.So it’s mostly “???XX???”; on the other hand ??????? at KCNA seems to be mostly in association with the South.
????? is reserved mostly for the Korean War - “Fatherland Liberation War” (??????????????). KCNA uses ???????? only for other countries like Kuwait (yes, liberation from Saddam!) and Congo. DPRK is good friends with Kuwait, it seems.
I doubt GBevers version of events.
Admittedly I’ve only seen the word Kwangbok on official gov’t documents 10 years or more after Liberation (like stamps that say ‘????10?????????’ and such), but I still doubt a change from ‘???????’ to ‘??????’ was made and even if it was I doubt that (1) a change was made for the reasons GBevers states and that even if it was (2) that we would really know that the change was made for that reason given that there was never any open public debate about how “we don’t want to remind ourselves about how we didn’t liberate ourselves” and so on during the oh so very pro-American years.
It should be noted that “student radicals” also use the term “haebangjeol” and that the Korean military organization, the “KWANGBOK-gun,” the one that among other things fought with the British against the Japanese in Burma, used the term “Kwangbok” in a way that would actually contradict what GBevers is saying; it was composed of Koreans fighting for their own freedom and it’s not like they knew the US was going to nuke Japan when they chose that name.
It does seem a possibility that the name of the anniversary/holiday wasn’t ‘???????’ from the start so please GBevers if you’ve got some info on that kindly enlighten us.
In another place I mentioned the downplaying of the role the U.S. and allies played in Korea’s liberation (Return to the Light, Light My Fire, whatever) from Japan, but they’ve got nothing on China:
http://english.peopledaily.com.....02410.html
They don’t mention that the Chinese Nationalist Party did almost all the fighting (which reportedly was Mao’s plan anyway), and of course say nothing of the US or its allies.
I don’t know if I’m missing something, but the insistence on calling it the ‘East Sea’ seems laughable. Why not change the Pacific and the Atlantic to the West and East Oceans, after all, that’s what they are to Canadians. Heck, the Dokdo Sea makes more sense than East Sea.
Oranckay,
I got my information from a book entitled, “????? ?????????????? ???????.” If you go to a book store, find the book, and turn to page 524, you can read it for yourself and not have to take my word for it.
The book says that Koreans used the expression, 8.15?????, until the mid-eighties, when the growing “democratic movement” spurred people to start using 8.15???. The passage also says that ???? was preferred because it made it sound like Koreans worked for and achieved their own independence instead of the world powers (???????) giving it to them.
If there is a request for the Korean by anyone other than you, Orankcay, I will type it out and save you a trip to the book store. But then you would still probably have to go to the book store and confirm it youself before you would believe me, wouldn’t you?
GBevers,
Thanks much for that, and also for what looks like an excellent book recommendation.
Also, I seem to have gotten one of your initial statements backwards, sorry about that.
I was really curious and did find this link which sorta says what you’ve said, though without the “not want to admit” tone and all and at least at that link no mention of any attempt to “imply” that Koreans did it themselves.
Given what the Kwangbok-gun had been up to and given how the new ROK government wanted to claim itself the rightful child of the provisional gov’t in China and associate itself with the fight against Japan, I suspect that had something to do with the change. And like I said there is evidence of the word Kwangbok being used early on in official ROK publications.
Thanks for the edu.
They don??t mention that the Chinese Nationalist Party did almost all the fighting (which reportedly was Mao??s plan anyway), and of course say nothing of the US or its allies. Well, the Chinese also say Seoul and Washington started the Korean War.
Chinese press in English did report Koizumi’s apology, so I stand corrected. Also reported the visit by two cabinet members to the Yasukuni shrine, too.
Personally, I do not support PM Koizumi as a voter, I do support him visiting the Yasukuni shrine, as I visit the shirine every chance I go to Tokyo because my grand father died in Luzon, Philippine in 1945, as a Japanese Imperial Army sergent in a battle with the US Army.
Although, I’ve never met with him (I’m a 37 years old male), I thank him and feel sorry for him dying for the country while visiting the very place where he must have believed to be visited by me when he had died in the battle. He left nothing besides my mother, but I shall visit the shrine to remember him until I die.
It doesn’t matter whether or not the shrine was built to praise the nationalistic Shinto-ism, but it does matter what my grand father once told my grand mother “meet there if I shall die in the war” like many Japanese soldiers just ( blindedly?) believed so.
The Japanese goverment are ought to pray for the soldiers who died for the country forever, even if the war purpose was sentenced evil in the controversy “Tokyo Court”.
I do not know if Koreans and Chineses have this kind of place for the pacification of war-deads spirits, we Japanese do. If you have such, you can visit yours.
How are the Chineses and Koreans authorized to take away from the Japaneses this natural emotion?