UPDATE: OK, Now Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo is calling Cheong Wa Dae’s comments “regrettable.” But luckily for Northeast Asia, Tokyo has stopped short of declaring Diplomatic War ™ on South Korea.
What I’d be keen to know is whether the Cheong Wa Dae staff consulted the Foreign Ministry prior to posting that statement on their website.
ORIGINAL POST: See! President Roh really does have a set of balls! In the wake of North Korea’s missile tests, Cheong Wa Dae has lashed out at the behavior of its neighbor… Japan:
The South Korean president’s office on Sunday accused Japan of making a “fuss” over North Korean missile launches, suggesting Tokyo was contributing to the tense situation.
“It is not any good to heighten tensions on the Korean Peninsula or aggravate the South-North relations and neither does it help to solve the nuclear issue or the missile issue,” said a statement from President Roh Moo-hyun’s office.
“There is no reason to fuss over this from the break of dawn like Japan, but every reason to do the opposite,” the statement said.
Here’s the original statement (in Korean).
Now, I’m as much in favor of ignoring the North Koreans’ latest little stunt as the next guy, but with Cheong Wa Dae making these kinds of ill-advised and, bluntly put, asinine statements, I truly hope Roh gets along with Hu Jintao, because at this rate, Beijing is going to be Seoul’s only friend real soon.
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Nothing short of a strike on Seoul by the Norks would get these Roh-nothings to take their heads out of their butts.
Korea, the NE Asian “balancer”.
Roh will be gone from the scene in 2007 and with any luck his influence will be even less than it is now. In other words, none (or less than zero, in that there will be urgent efforts to undo nearly everything he did in office). Korea’s current friends probably are just hoping to run out the clock on this fool.
This does beg the question: Does Korea want friends? History tells us no.
That’s right; it wants (a) patron(s), who will foot the bill for the domestic elites to exercise no strings attached power on the peninsula while living in the style to which they aspire while providing just enough outside subsidized bread and circus (for which the elite can claim credit) to keep the bulk of the population anxiously distracted.
Hmm, sounds a little like the NORKS, huh?
I suppose it was a bit naïve of me to expect that Roh & co. would reserve accusations of “heightening tensions” or “aggravating north-south relations” for the country that went lobbing missiles into the region
According to the Mainichi story that is linked:
I think this should be put in a different perspective from where it’s going.
Is “bashing” what’s really going on here? Me personally, I would rather save that heavy-duty word for when it truly does happen. Saying that Japan “making a fuss” is counterproductive doesn’t sound like “bashing” to me. Mainichi’s description of “critical of Japan” is more apt.
Second, why the Roh administration is doing this is probably more important than what they’re doing (another point made by the Mainichi): this is ass-covering by the Rohsters because the political opposition (not to mention much of the Korean public) is on their case about it (in other words, more sympathetic to the positions of Tokyo and Washington). In other words, the blogosphere looking at this in simplistic terms of Korea-versus-the-world misses many of the finer, pertinent points.
But I do agree with Brendon that Korea’s friends are waiting for the clock to run out on his administration. Here’s hoping my prediction comes true, and the sooner the better.
Rho government is quickly losing contact with average Koreans. If you visit any of three major newspapers, you will see thorough condemnation of Rho government’s handling of the matter.
In one paper, a poll was conducted and 90% of those who voted were against Rho’s idiotic stance.
As I said, if NK shoots more missiles in coming month, there will be a military coup in Korea. A government cannot survive on 10% approval rating.
Roh is clearly wrong here, and Japan has every right to be upset. I heard Japan cancelled plans and actual shipments to send food/aid to North Korea. Rightly so. All the missiles were headed in the direction of Japan.
Whether it rises to the level of bashing or not, it’s certainly reprehensively disingenuous - that’s a fancy phrase for dishonestly slimy. His critics attack him for his silence on the self-evidently serious issue at hand, one unilaterally concocted by the NORKS, and the Great Pretender lashes out at the Japanese.
Crazy Cat’s suggestion of military coup is something I pray doesn’t come to pass. A military coup might be good for restoring sanity to the administration, but it would be a disaster as far as the development of Korea’s democracy and rule of law go. The voters made a horrid choice. But it was their choice, and according to the laws of Korea the moron who was elected has 18 months of poor performance ahead of him. Respecting the people’s choice, and the laws that stick us with Roh Moo Hyun for another year and a half, is the best thing for Korea.
The whole ‘no reason to fuss over this from the break of dawn like Japan’ comment is an attempt at ass-covering, certainly. ‘Course, Roh should remember that one actually needs to be awake and informed at that time in order to do what he suggests.
One could simply point out Roh’s approach to the situation - not even cosmetic surgery can mask it effectively.
All the missiles were headed in the direction of Japan.
Not so sure. One of them reportedly landed in Russian waters, just a few dozen miles from the city of Nakhodka.
Yet, Russia is trying to go easy on the sanctions. They certainly want North Korea to stay a part of their new Beijing-Moscow axis, so they’re making excuses for Pyongyang: “We have a very big country; it really is hard to avoid hitting us.”
Well, I differ. A benevolent dictator with a marshall law can quiet down the country and set the course to the right direction. As things get worse, Rho government will not be able to keep law and order in Korea. People do not trust Rho who behaves like a Commie.
Another interesting development right now is the war of words between NK and Autralia. They have been exchanging pretty emotionally-charged threats.
This can develop into “Australian solution”. Australia can attack NK. They have a couple of air craft carriers, sizeable airforce, marines and army. They can attack NK and take PyongYang, kicking out Commies.
As I wrote before, China and Russia will keep a low profile. And, after all, this is between Australia and NK. Australia can free North Koreans from the grip of KJI.
God bless Korea.
I’m actually going to respond seriously to that comment with this link. Executive summary: 26,200 active Army personnel. This isn’t to say that the diggers aren’t a very fine force for their size, of course. They’ve earned great praise in Afghanistan.
Australia — total Army strength 26,000 regular Army, 18,000 reservists. No fixed-wing naval aviation at all, just four helicopter squadrons operating from a single Naval Air Station near Sydney (but relocatable to northern Australia if need be). Heaviest naval vessel is one of 13 total frigates (no aircraft carrier or LST in the order of battle). And an Air Force having only 71 F-18s and 35 F-111 fighter/bombers (combat range 1300 miles) in its inventory. And no naval infantry (i.e. Marine Corps) outside of very small special forces.
Yes, a brilliant plan from Crazy Cat. Without sea-based naval aviation, how is Australia supposed to stage any operation against North Korea, which is a 13-hour commercial flight from Australia? How is Australia expected to get its minuscule but effective Army onto North Korean shores? If staging from Russia, China, or South Korea — maybe. Or from Japan if inserting by air.
What was your U.S. Navy specialty again, Admiral?
i think we have to consider things from the NK perspective….for just a moment. missile testing……is it something new and something rare that other nations do not do? does the US test missiles and fire them into the water? i don’t know the answer to this question, but it is very likely that, yes, he Americans do test missiles. accordingly, is NK the only nation with nucleur capabilities and aspirations to defend themselves? the answer is of course….no. true - the north koreans are nuts. but until we have a peaceful world where no one has nucleur weapons and does not do any missile testing whatsoever, i dont think we can blame NK for playing with fire. the japanese are making too much of a fuss, as are the Americans. the truth is, its a pissing contest in the dark, and we can’t see who the winner is. CNN, as usual, is making more of a fuss than the SK news stations, just for a story. I applaud Roh. Ultimately, the best anyone can hope for is for the NK people to someday wake up and decide communism is kind of not working out.
13 hours by commercial flight being a useful proxy for distance — it’s more than 5000 miles between Pyongyang and Cairns.
Well, I think Japan should wake up and take NK threat seriously. If Australia is willing to fight, then the least Japan can do is to provide sea passage.
America cannot do it all.
Besides, the US and SK are in awkward position, being placed right next door. If Aussy and Japan can do a combined operation on NK, it will be so nice.
Dinkus: missile testing……is it something new and something rare that other nations do not do? does the US test missiles and fire them into the water?
Dinkus, the answer is no, neither the US nor other nations threaten neigbors by firing notoriously inaccurate scud missiles dangerously close to them, incurring danger to 5 nations simultaneously, expeically South Korea, since 5 of the missiles were short-range.
And nations other than Korea do not excuse such actions simply because they are of a common race. It’s clear to people who understand our nation what’s going on here - Koreans against the world, excusing and defending even the most heinous acts by members of the race.
I applaud Roh. Ultimately, the best anyone can hope for is for the NK people to someday wake up and decide communism is kind of not working out.
How naive. And how long will it take for the SK people to wake up and decide “democracy” is not working out? Back in the 70s and 80s, Koreans used to debate about whether Korea was ready for democracy. This is your answer.
-”All the missiles were headed in the direction of Japan.”
–”Not so sure. One of them reportedly landed in Russian waters, just a few dozen miles from the city of Nakhodka.”
–“We [Russia] have a very big country; it really is hard to avoid hitting us.”
So if the one missile went towards Russia, it’s unavoidable because it’s big. But the remainders still all went towards Japan. Japan is really small. By the logic you have to work hard not to aim at Russia, then you have to work hard to aim at Japan. The Russians are basically saying, “they aimed at Japan, and that’s not a problem.”
Don’t let it be said that Koreans don’t have their priorities straight — while the rest of the world is rightly worried by the North’s provocations, in South Korea the overriding issue is whether foreign news agencies refer to the “East Sea” or the “Sea of Japan” in their reports.
http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/pol.....40075.html
“i think we have to consider things from the NK perspective”
Certainly it makes sense that countries want to test their missiles, but obviously the timing here has far more to do with getting a rise out of the neighbors than it is in testing missiles. If I were the US, I would ignore the Norks (maybe completely publically), but if I were Japan, I’d be furiously working on my own set of nukes. Those missiles are a direct threat to Japan, and in conjunction with the fiery rhetoric of the Norks against Japan, I can easily see Japanese worries over this. Time for the Japanese to start working on their own nukes and ramping up their military? I would be if I were them.
The Russians are basically saying, “they aimed at Japan, and that’s not a problem.
Which is precisely Roh’s response as 5 of those 7 missiles were short-range and therefore designed specifically to hit SK and nobody else. But Roh can afford to shrug and offer no assurances of safety because, after all, he’s got the US paying for and operating his nation’s defence.
Dinkus, you’re off-base here. How come we never hear of other countries doing missile tests? Because they do them quietly in a safe location so as not to disturb the neighbors. No missiles are fired out into the open seas or close to enemy territories. That’s the difference here.
This is not a missile test, it’s a deliberate and calculated provocation. What’s their intent? The real intent is to get a rise out of its enemies. Missile testing is a secondary or less important consideration here.
That won’t work for so many reasons. 1) The Japanese people are very anti-nuclear. They won’t even let nuclear powered US ships dock. The US counters by saying how safe nuclear power is, but to the Japanese it’s not an issue of safety, it’s about it being a nuclear weapon even though not in the sense of one you drop on a country, but it is still a ‘weapon’ that uses nuclear technology. 2) It’s against the Japanese constitution. 3) The same countries that don’t see a deranged psychopath directly saying he wishes they all die as their best friend, see Japan, the country that has been working for peace for 60 years as a threat.
The blindness that binds the the people of Korea together will ultimately be their demise since the only one who actually has his eyes open to the truth is Kim^2 himself. He sees what a bunch of suckers his ‘brothers’ to the South are and will exploit them for this while he plans his next invasion.
Consider the technology at Mizar5’s disposal: first, he posts from the United States, on July 10th, 2006 at 2:46 pm, then he posts from Germany at 3:06 pm on the same day!
-”All the missiles were headed in the direction of Japan.”….
Not a single one of the missile was aimed at Japan.
They all aimed at international water between Russia and NK, except for TPD, which aimed at nowhere but ended up near musudan-ri coast as well……or as some speculated, the ocean between Alaska and Hawaii…
Roh’s government reminds me of the Chamberlain’s 1939 British government.
http://english.chosun.com/w21d.....00006.html
Well you got that right!
“The Japanese people are very anti-nuclear. They won’t even let nuclear powered US ships dock.”
While the Japanese people have a healthy apprehension towards military use of nuclear reactors, the above statement is false. Us nuclear powered submarines dock in Japan every day (or at least frequently/regularly). I saw many LA class subs in the time I spent at Yokosuka. As well, the US and Japan have reached an agreement that the USS George Washington, a nuclear powered carrier, will replace the USS Kitty Hawk when the latter is decommissioned in a few years. I don’t know if that is a reflection of growing acceptance of nuclear elements or if it is an effort to acclimate the people to military related nuclear equipment, or neither.
Regarding the testing of missiles, there’s a natural “unfairness” where geographically bigger countries can test without affecting neighbors whereas smaller countries are much more restricted. Russia tests most of there missiles over the Kamchatka peninsula without worrying to much about any potential strays. However, missile tests ALMOST always are accompanied by warnings and maritime exclusion zones during the firing period and announcements regarding time/direction/expected distance, etc. Even the USSR issued these warning, albeit not consistently. North Korea couldn’t do that since the idea had nothing to do with “tests” but solely to do with making statements.
http://www.estripes.com/articl.....chive=true
The USS George Washington is actually exactly what I was talking about. You do bring up a good point: no matter what the people think, they really don’t do anything about something until the next election. Yet my point remains factual, the people are very anti-nuclear, and they won’t allow the nuclear powered ship to dock — the government just goes over their head.
Ahh, I see what you’re saying Darin. In fairness to the Japanese people as well, I think the point about concern over “the lack of Japanese oversight” is a valid one and needs to be developed further. I’m curious why there hasn’t been any public outcry over the submarines docked there. They’ve been doing that since at least ‘95. Is it because it just hasn’t been made an issue in the press you think?
BTW Darin, nice work on the Jenkins book. Lot of really interesting stuff we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Much appreciated.
“I’m curious why there hasn’t been any public outcry over the submarines docked there. They’ve been doing that since at least ‘95. Is it because it just hasn’t been made an issue in the press you think?”
In all honestly, I don’t think anyone knew about it. (For example I didn’t — it wasn’t in the papers or anything like that.) The average Japanese person doesn’t concern themselves with political matters. Less then 50% eligible voters do vote. I think that signals they are satisfied with how things are going, otherwise they’d work to change them. Recently people have become more interested in politics, perhaps they’re no longer satisfied, or perhaps it’s a response to the political attacks from around, I think it’s both.
There are still LOTS of pictures I need to put up. I should have waited to start this until my summer vacation started. I have many other books on my shelf I want to share, one of which is the always loud and obnoxious Kobayashi Yoshinori’s comic about the Yasukuni Shrine issue. I need to find a way to tell people that I neither agree nor disagree with him (in the context of the posts), I’m just sharing.
Whatever you say, Nora.
This is a comment for Darin. You mentioned “brotherly love.” Well, you
know what? Koreans are the ancestors of the Japanese. The Japanese betrayed the Koreans and established their own country. So don’t bag on the Koreans. Look at your own betrayal. How dare you say that about your ancestors. I
If you didn’t know that, then take a history class. They cut that out in the Japanese textbooks. Take a real history class. Do you know what the Japanese national anthem reminds me of? “Kim is leaving.” If you can’t interpret that, then take a Korean course and about your ancestors. Have respect for them too. You are so naive. Education in Japan fools Japanese citizens. It prevents them from learning the truth. It cheats the Japanese citizen. You know what? It tells lies about Koreans. The Japanese are so greedy. Do you remember the bombing of Pearl Harbor? You know why people are fed up with the Japanese? It’s because you guys cheat your way up but act like you’re so decent and fair. The Americans gave you power. You didn’t earn it at all. The Japanese are hypocrites. Looking for land? Earn it. Don’t kill people for it. Or you will get punished. Do you know why Dr. Seuss discriminated the Japanese in the past?
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[...] I’m not sure if Abe’s statement precipitated this reaction by South Korean government; if so, it would put things in some perspective. The reaction would then be understandable … if not for South Korea’s spinelessness after the North Koreans actually fired seven missiles in Japan’s general direction. [...]