By ANDY JACKSON
Marmot?????s Hole Guest Blogger
As a mentioned here last week, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon canceled his planned visit to Japan after Japan’s prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, visited the Yasukuni Shrine.
Well, the trip is back on. It seems that, with Korea hosting the APEC conference next month in Pusan, he and his boss want things to go a smoothly as possible:
Yesterday, Mr. Ban told reporters, “The relationship between South Korea and Japan should not be strained because of a specific issue. So I will visit Japan…”
The decision was made after taking a collective look at the situation,” a Foreign Ministry official said. “With political ties likely to be strained for a while, we thought it was better to keep the diplomatic channels open.”
I for one am glad to see that cooler heads have prevailed at the Cheong Wa Dae. Perhaps this will lessen the perception that Koreans act based on their feelings rather than on analysis.
This is also a welcome sign of maturity in the Roh administration. The Japanese have long been the favorite whipping boy for Roh and some of his allies. Playing the Japan card fits many of the domestic political orientations of the Korean left. It redirects nationalist sentiment away from Kim Jong-il-bashing and puts Seoul and Pyongyang on the same side of a conflict. It has also been used to attack some conservatives (such as the Chosun Ilbo and the daughter of Park Chung-hee). In short, Japan-bashing has become the Pavlovian bell of the Korean left.
For the Roh administration to pass on the chance to stick it to the Japanese again, even at the cost of potentially angering some of its core supporters, demostrates that they can be induced to take a politically inexpedient position when they have something to gain from it diplomatically. That is certainly welcome.
10 Comments
That is a good news. Korea needs to be close to Japan and the US. If Korea shuns these well-established neighbors and run to the NK-China camp, there is nothing for its future but poverty, mistreatment, imprisonment and death.
Yasukuni is not Dokto. Let the crazy Japanese anger the Chinese if they so desire. Korea should just sit still. Let these heavy weights go at each other.
As soon as Korea deserts its neutrality and belongs to one side, it will face the anger, the main thrust of attack, on itself. Just stay out of a big fight.
Ephemeral…Slippery..Non-commital..Two-faced…should be Korea’s foreign policy from now on, to survive through the coming war between Japan and China.
And, you know what? Even the US will stay out this “regional” conflict between two warmongers. The US will just sell weapons to each side. Korea should do the same.
The Yangban: “I for one am glad to see that cooler heads have prevailed at the Cheong Wa Dae. Perhaps this will lessen the perception that Koreans act based on their feelings rather than on analysis.”
Gerry: I for one think it reinforces the perception that Koreans act based on their feelings, at least Koreans in the current administration.
Ban says he will not visit Japan, and then changes his mind a few days later. That confirms that his first pronouncement was based on feelings, not reason. There is nothing mature about changing your position every few days. Ban should have kept his stupid mouth shut until he had considered all the consequences.
GBevers,
You are right. The present administration is so amateur that it changes its position daily. I cannot wait to see this present day yahoos go away and the real professionals take over.
There are some qualified and dignified Korean men as you know, including moi. There is no reason to see these yokels tearing up the very fabric of Korean government.
Time for them to go. This morning one congressman revealed that NK spurned Hyundai corp because Hyundai would not supply the secrets about Korean submarine construction. If this is true, then this government is committing treason. Treason!
Time for them to go.
Back on? The plane tickets were never even cancelled. Throwing a tantrum and making empty threats in the public spotlight is the Korean way of saving face in order to feign strength.
It is better to speak softly and carry a big stick by actually following through with one’s threats.
“There are some qualified and dignified Korean men as you know, including moi. There is no reason to see these yokels tearing up the very fabric of Korean government.”
Unfortunately, in Korea as well as the U.S., those are precisely the sort of people who tend to avoid becoming politicians.
I’d vote for you though.
k’zumi shouldn’t have visited the shrine in the first place. that would have been the mature thing to do.
Nulji,
Koi had his reasons. His backers, Japanese rightwingers, want him to do it. To gain and maintain their support, Koi had no choice but to go there.
Politicians live for votes!(and power,money, women…that are all dependent on him to win votes.)
I told you Protesting Yasukuni, as a political card, is void and null. Who cares what Japanese do or believe as long as they keep it calm and domestic.
One of Korean ministers says that the reason for the reconsideration is to give Japan the ultimatum. I’m not sure if he understands what “ultimatum” does……, but it’s getting very exciting.
‘who cares what japanese do?’
in the end, i’d have to agree with this. why should korea care about a country that’s been shrinking for almost twenty years now? japan is the country of yesterday and it’s relevance to asia dwindles as each year passes. korea needs to be interested in what important countries like china and the us do.
ps you’re right, baduk; kzumi got his reasons. that doesn’t mean his actions are mature.
“why should korea care about a country that?€™s been shrinking for almost twenty years now? japan is the country of yesterday and it?€™s relevance to asia dwindles as each year passes.”
Because the same things can be said about Korea, because our nation has been shrinking before it has even matured. And if our nation wants to differentiate itself, it had better learn from examples - good and bad.
And nulji, don’t count Japan out yet. They have many times the capital, affluence and influence that we do. Perhaps we can afford to write them off when we reach their halfway mark sometime in the next hudred years.