Historic atrocity: G7 host city Hiroshima has reminded attendees about its mass death and devastation from a single US atomic bomb in the final days of World War II. But what about Japan's past imperial aggressions?— AFP
ON the cusp of World War II, Syngman Rhee warned Amer-icans about Imperial Japan’s expansionist ambitions. “To review the past is to preview the future,” wrote the future president of South Korea in his 1941 book, Japan Inside Out: The Challenge of Today. Months after the book’s release, Japanese planes bombed US naval ships at Pearl Harbor.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korea-US alliance and mutual defence treaty, hailed as a historic success. Yet, the challenge to peace is undiminished. The flurry of summit talks in Tokyo, Washington, and Seoul in the past two months clearly point to the urgency of the geopolitical situation unfolding in this region. South Korea faces greater security challenges than ever.
The leaders of South Korea, the United States, and Japan are meeting again today in Hiroshima, Japan, on the sidelines of the G7 summit. Their agenda reportedly includes solidifying the tripartite security cooperation.
The host city, of course, has reminded attendees about its mass death and devastation from a single US atomic bomb in the final days of World War II. As expected, its native son, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are jointly paying respects at the Cenotaph for Korean Atomic Bomb Victims in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It is the first such visit by the leaders of the two countries. And it is also an opportune time for the two leaders to alleviate misgivings among the South Korean public about how they view contentious historical issues between their nations.
An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 Koreans, many of them forced labourers, were killed in the atomic bombings by the Americans of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. They were among the hundreds of thousands of Koreans forcibly mobilised to work at Japanese mines and factories, as well as military brothels, to assist Japan’s war efforts in the Pacific. However, Japan has persistently denied the use of forced labour.
Yoon (second left), his wife Kim Keon Hee (left), Kishida (second right) and his wife Yuko Kishida (right) pay their respects during a visit to the 'Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb', near the Peace Park Memorial in Hiroshima, on the sidelines of the G7 Summit Leaders' Meeting. — AFP
At a joint press conference after his summit talks with Yoon in Seoul on May 7, Kishida again remained tactfully ambiguous. He said, “My heart aches when I think of the many people who endured terrible suffering and grief under the difficult circumstances of the time”. He avoided saying who he was referring to. And he said his feelings were “personal”, suggesting that he was not speaking on behalf of his government. He thus dealt another blow to Yoon and his administration’s naive wish that Tokyo would “fill up the half-filled water cup” offered to reboot bilateral ties.
Yoon has only himself to blame. At a press interview before his departure for a state visit to Washington DC on April 26, he effectively invited Japan’s impudence, his magnanimity obviously based on his ignorance of history.
“Europe has experienced several wars over the past 100 years and despite that, warring countries have found ways to cooperate for the future,” he said.
“I can’t accept the notion that because of what happened 100 years ago, something is absolutely impossible [to do] and that they [Japanese] must kneel [for forgiveness] because of our history 100 years ago. And this is an issue that requires decision.... In terms of persuasion, I believe I did my best.”Yet, there is little evidence that Yoon tried to persuade the general public and government branches on how to thaw relations with Japan. The “decision” has the unilateral markings of a feudal king, not the head of a democratic state representing the majority of citizens.
It is widely assumed that the hectic fence-mending between South Korea and Japan stems from Washington’s pressure to bring its two key Asian allies closer in the US strategies against China. Kishida’s hurried visit to Seoul was the first by a Japanese Prime Minister in 12 years. In March, Yoon visited Tokyo for the first South Korea-Japan summit in as many years, and a couple of weeks ago he went to Washington.
A rally against Kishida’s recent visit to Seoul. The touted three-way security cooperation with Tokyo as a partner unnerves most Koreans, says the writer. — AFP
The summit between Yoon and US President Joe Biden produced the Nuclear Consultative Group, as part of the Washington Declaration that reassured US extended deterrence while shackling South Koreans’ growing aspirations for nuclear arms of their own. If Kishida seeks to put Japan in the group, he should expect a cold shoulder. Already, the touted three-way security cooperation with Tokyo as a partner unnerves most Koreans. They do not find the Japanese trustworthy enough yet to be privy to the nation’s vital security information, let alone joint strategic planning.
In his book, Rhee lamented how “the act of international banditry and outlawry was perpetrated by Japan with the full sanction and approval of the civilised nations of the world”.
Korea signed the first of its treaties of amity and commerce with the United States in 1882. In 1905, Rhee deplored, the United States used its “good offices”, not for Korea, according to the treaty covenants, but for Japan, which was dealing “unjustly and oppressively” with Korea in open violation of its promise.
Rhee apparently was referring to the Taft-Katsura agreement of July 1905. While at war with Russia, Japan’s prime minister Katsura Taro met with US secretary of war William H. Taft and explained Japan’s reason for making a protectorate of Korea, saying Japan had no interest in the Philippines, a US territory at the time.
In 1905, Japan ‘incorporated’ Dokdo, making the group of islets in the East Sea the first casualty of its attempt at hegemony over Korea. — Agencies
The war ended in September 1905, with Japan’s unexpected victory. In November of that year, Japan forced the waning court of the Korean Empire to sign the Protectorate Treaty, depriving Korea of its diplomatic rights ahead of its colonisation. In February of that year, Japan “incorporated” Dokdo, making the group of islets in the East Sea the first casualty of its attempt at hegemony over Korea.
Tokyo still asserts its territorial rights over the islets, Korea’s inherent territory, which had been recognised by Japan up until its imperial aggression. Washington must first nudge Japan to drop its unjust claim on Dokdo, instead of tacitly condoning it, before it can expect a highly functional tripartite security cooperation involving Tokyo and Seoul. – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network
Lee Kyong-hee is a former editor-in-chief of The Korea Herald.
