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What do you think Japan and South Korea should each do to ease tensions over wartime history and territorial disputes?

9 Comments

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9 Comments
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Dialogue. Compromise. Listen to each other.

It's not rocket science.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Two cultures do not mix. To deal with the past, in Japan, people let it go (水に流す) or forget and forgive while in Korea, people let it boil (한) or resent and revenge.

Japanese "Mizu ni nagasu": https://www.nihongomaster.com/dictionary/entry/116217/mizuninagasu

Korean "Han": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_(cultural)

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

While there is a chance of getting more in the way of monetary reparations, South Korea will play the "victimhood" card. As it goes right back to the days of Hideyoshi's rule there is a lot at stake. However, why should the present generation of Japanese have to shoulder all of the guilt and responsibility for making amends when they had no hand in it at all.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

A meaningful path to reconcile historic grievances are a fanciful pipe dream.

The Government of South Korea displays little respect for law of treaties.

The Government of Japan made a stark political and diplomatic misjudgement in 2015 entering into a bilateral agreement. on “comfort women” in the flawed belief that a “deal” of this nature could sweep such horrendous acts 'final and Irreversibly' under the carpet of history.

The whole ghastly deal has a politically poisonous level of insensitivity towards the victims.

A start would be to take the process away from the toxic influence of the political establishment of both counties.

Some form of Independent Royal commission. A program of education into all aspects of disagreement. The tone respectful and conciliatory, a move away from the barking belligerence currently deployed by Moon Jae-in Government.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Reckless, valid point but Korea was defeated and colonised by Japan. Japan was subsequently comprehensively defeated by another more powerful country but not by Korea so nothing assuages the perceived humiliation. As generations pass that would also pass except that petty narrow minded politicians stir it up again and again for their own selfish political advantage.

Toasted, you are quite right but there is one element missing without which the others simply won’t operate, a real wish on both parties behalf for it to happen.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The bs between Japan, South Korea, and China is no different than with Israel vs. Palestinians. It's a never ending "you did this to us, so we're gonna do this to you" tit for tat. It never ends.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The leaders of each side should frankly, publicly, and abjectly admit to being biased regarding these issues. It's obvious that South Korea's leaders are biased, but people on the Japanese side are also very, very far away from being purveyors of some sort of objective, incontrovertible truth.

What the South Koreans want from the Japanese is an apology with renunciation, i.e. for Japan's leaders to renounce and actually condemn Japan's entire Meiji Era foreign policy that culminated in the annexation of Korea in 1910. That's no more likely to happen than Dick Cheney apologising for initiating the "War on Terror." The South Koreans ought to give up on achieving that objective.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Ex-president of Foreign Correspondent Club of Korea, Michael Breen, said Koreans are supreme victim cos-player in world history and that they must discard the populism politic by ignorant public's sentiment. http://www.econovill.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=356587

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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