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rgcivilian1
re article: I wish the emperor would do it since he will step down soon," he said in an interview with Bloomberg. "Isn't he the son of the main culprit of war crimes?" Moon said. He made the comments ahead of the April abdication of Emperor Akihito
IMO SK is much better off with Moon stepping down voluntarily. Personal feelings should be put aside and not out there in public. It shows poor taste in leadership. Moon should be more concerned about recovering the funding Japan paid to SK but was not handed down to the intended purpose and instead ended up in the coffers of the major construction companies, ministers and other politicos bank accounts.
Ganbare Japan!
Good for Japan. To have some lowly Korean lawmaker criticize The Emperor, and tell Him what to do, is unforgivable. Moon should apologize.
oldman_13
Good.
The remark was utter stupidity in many ways.
Akie
Japanese are not stupid people, neither Koreans.
IloveCoffee
This is beyond ridiculous. Getting offended because somebody asked you to apologize. The hypocrisy of the Japanese politicians is astonishing. They insult the Korean victims all the time, calling them prostitutes and what not, visiting the Yasukuni and worship these brutal criminals who slaughtered Koreans, and now they have the nerve to get offended because a Korean lawmaker asked their Emperor to apologize, making it look like a huge unspeakable crime. These Koreans have no manners and are so rude asking our Emperor to apologize for colonizing them, meanwhile J-pol. saying things like "our solders had to rape their women to relief the stress".
Tom Doley
Just part of Abe’s daily life.
alwaysspeakingwisdom
This is beyond ridiculous. Getting offended because somebody asked you to apologize
As ridiculous as getting offended over a flag and shrine?
oldman_13
I await your list of Japanese politicians insulting Korean victims 'all the time.' A few Japanese political figures have made stupid remarks about these things but it's hardly 'all the time' and those few comments don't negate the over three dozen official statements of apologies offered by the Japanese government for over three decades, many of them to the South Korean people. A few stupid Japanese politicians is no more representative of Japan, than a stupid politician of my country is representative of my country as a whole.
And sorry, down voting my comments is not a proper response.
This was a highly inappropriate statement of Moon, particularly as he thinks an apology from the emperor is going to end this once and for all. What a joke, isn't that what the 2015 agreement was supposed to be?
And lost on the usual crowd on here, Moon himself realized what a stupid comment it was and apologized for it.
Just so that those who continually misrepresent what Japan has or hasn't done to suit their own agendas, a brief reminder:
May 25, 1990: Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, in a meeting with President Roh Tae Woo, said: "I would like to take the opportunity here to humbly reflect upon how the people of the Korean Peninsula went through unbearable pain and sorrow as a result of our country's actions during a certain period in the past and to express that we are sorry" (Summit meeting with President Roh Tae Woo in Japan)
January 1, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, in a press conference, said: "Concerning the comfort women, I apologize from the bottom of my heart and feel remorse for those people who suffered indescribable hardships".
January 17, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, at a policy speech on a visit to South Korea, said:. "What we should not forget about relationship between our nation and your nation is a fact that there was a certain period in the thousands of years of our company when we were the victimizer and you were the victim. I would like to once again express a heartfelt remorse and apology for the unbearable suffering and sorrow that you experienced during this period because of our nation's act." Recently the issue of the so-called 'wartime comfort women' is being brought up. I think that incidents like this are seriously heartbreaking, and I am truly sorry"
December 28, 2015: Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se made an announcement at a joint press conference, which consisted of their respective statements on behalf of Japan and South Korea. Kishida stated, "The issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at that time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, and the Government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective. As Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Abe expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds as comfort women."
Jonathan Prin
Bickering over a personal comment is not showing any maturity and pacific stance.
Limiting exchanges lead to war. Want that ?
OssanAmerica
What's ridicuous is the level of your anti-J diatribe.
They were prostitutes. No one is debating that. The debate is over how they ended up in the IJA military brothel system and what were they occupations prior to "recruitment".
Nobody, politicians or otherwise, pays tribute at the Yasukuni Shrine to to "worship war criminals". There are some 2.46 million souls enshrined there going back to the 1800s. Furthermore, none of those 14 class-A war criminals "slaightered Koreans". In fact Koreans served in tbe IJA. made use of the Comfort Stations, and 143 Koreans were charged as War Criminals, with 23 executed. And some are enshrined at Yasukuni.
The IJA Comfort Stations were set up to prevent rape. The same as German and French ones during WWII.
Any relationship between the Japanese Emperor and WWII ends with Hirohito. Who, despite having declared a willingness to assume all responsibility for Japan's actions was prevented from doing so, and kept from being charged as a war criminal by the United States. So SK Assembly Speaker Moon Hee Sang's remark ""Isn't he the son of the main culprit of war crimes?" refering to Emperor Akihito is factually incorrect and therefore simply offensive. Especially since Emperor Akihito has done nothing during his reign but to try to make amends with all countries, including SK, for Japan's action's during his father's reign.
AS SK has "reversed" the "irreversible" agreement, obviously the annual meeting has lost all meaning. President Moon Jae-In has destroyed SK-JPN relations, but this Assembly Speaker Moon Hee Sang has taken it further to ensure that it can never be repaired. SK needs to ask itself if that is in SK's own best interests.
AviBajaj
Not a single yen to SK from Japan n SK's BullCrap has stopped working in the world so the bad fate has caught SK now
Divine Wind
If you think sex slaves are prostitutes than nobody debates it, but many people don't think sex slaves are prostitutes.
Akihito's grandfather is Taisho (Yoshihito), who did not play any role in the second world war as he died in the 1920s so I think you misread something.
alwaysspeakingwisdom
Funny how Korean people and western people got up in arms about Japanese fan wearing a rising sun t-shirt at baseball and soccer game but say nothing when Koreans beat up Japanese and insult Japan...
Alex80
anti-Japanese propaganda is fuelled systematically from South Korea media, like Asian Boss channel on YouTube. They spread the fake information about "Japan never apologized" despite reality is different. They fuel hate all the time towards Japan into little kids, letting anti-Japanese comments in their channel. This is why I dislike SK. Their international anti-Japanese propaganda targeting kids is scaring and disgusting.
AlexBecu
Dear S. Korea,
You don't like our Emperor
Don't like our flag
Dont like the 1965 aggrement
Dont like the 2015 aggrement
Dont like our Text Books
Dont like Takeshima being told by Japanese is theirs.
Dont like our Government
Dont like our Prime Minister
Dont like our apologies over 50 by dozens of PM
Dont like GSOMIA
Willing to boycott Japan on mass.
Willing to lie and twist the truth on Japan issues.
Willing to be a bad ally, neighbor, friend
You even targeted Japanese planes flying in Japan Sea.
OssanAmerica
Those are either simply biased or uneducated people. All CW were military prostitutes. That is not in debate. They were recruited and on the IJA payroll. What is in debate is how they got there, how they were recruited. Because some CW were in fact prostitutes prior to recruitment and some were not. Some answered want ads in the newspapers, some seem to have been sold off by their parents to cover family debts, some seem to have been deceived by Korean middlemen who provided women to the IJA. This is all in "The Comfort Women" by Dr Sarah Soh.
The term "Sex Slaves" is a false charge created by the Chong Dae Hyup to incite emotional reaction. CW were on tje IJA payroll, could leave if debts were paid, received medical care. Real "sex slaves" are the victims of human traffiking that is going on even today.
showchinmono
None should pretend to not know it and to behave ignorant. The problem has been SKorean hypocrisy. There's no difference between CW during ww2 and CW during Korean/Vietnam war and beyond. Nonetheless, SK government, those pro-north cult groups don't give a damn about their own comfort women.
NO. It is what what CW was.
showchinmono
Damn, I wish I could ask shower of questions over those ad-tower so-called victims like typical ones , Lee Yong-soo and some others (Including the ones who already passed away ) guarded and protected by mysterious care-takers always besides them.
showchinmono
As far as CW issues concerned, Richard Lee Armitage once advised to Japan " Japan should not make this political issue IF there could be even only one victim " I believe Japan listened to that advise.
But what's happening now?!
YES there must have been genuine high-teen victims, deceived, assaulted, by fellow-Korean brokers/house masters who didn't give a damn about PAINS suffered by them by continuing THE SAME during Korea/Vietnam War
Divine Wind
OssanAmerica. The term sexual forced labour has been used in official court documents way before Korean (admittedly) politicised the issue.
Nice how you only name Korean middlemen, but Japanese officers have literally been convicted of forcing girls into slavery in the Dutch East Indies. One of the only places with good documentation and where not all documents were burned. If you want to keep yourself in the dark about the direct Japanese military involvement on this institutional forced sexual l labour, whatever, but don't call people biased or uneducated because that's exactly what you are.
http://www.hildejanssen.nl/troostmeisjes/portretten-nl.html
"Kidnapped as a girl of 10 years old"
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/07/national/documents-detail-how-imperial-military-forced-dutch-females-to-be-comfort-women/#.WLdzKRiZM19
"According to the document women were taken on the order of Japanese lieutenant"
ClippetyClop
Or a statue of a woman or an art exhibition?
extanker
So from this, I gather that South Korea expects every incoming Prime Minister and Emperor to have an official 'List of Things to Apologize to South Korea for' that they must read immediately after they are sworn in.
Obviously that's what they expect since multiple apologies have already been made...
Ex_Res
Good for Japan. To have some lowly Korean lawmaker criticize The Emperor, and tell Him what to do, is unforgivable. Moon should apologize.
The word "lowly" really speaks volumes here, when it comes to attitude.
IloveCoffee
@oldman_13
The vast majority of Japanese politicians are members of Nippon Kaigi, which a revisionist organization whose main stance is that Japan liberated East Asia, there were no conform women, no invasion of Korea, no nanking massacre and so on. Literally hundreds of J-politians have visited the Yasukuni Shrine, and dozens of high ranking politicians have made incredibly insulting comments towards Koreans, the ex-Mayor of Tokyo, the ex-mayor of Osaka, the ex-mayor of Nagoya, the current Prime Minister, as well as at least dozens of other LDP lawmakers whose names i won't be bothered to google. Meanwhile, there has never been a single South Korean politician to my knowledge that has ever made any sort of disparaging remark towards Japan.
As for your list of apologies, i have already addressed this many times before. These are not apologies as they do not contain any admission of guilt. They're a wordplay of carefully crafted "expressions of regret" that "something bad happened". And furthermore, for each of these non-apologies, there is a disproportionate number of denials. The current PM of Japan have even said that the government does not stand with the Kono statement.
@OssanAmerica
If you think that a 14 year old girl will voluntarily become a prostitute, you need to check your head. And if you think that all Dutch, Australian, Filipino, Indonesian, Korean and Chinese former Conform Women would lie in such a consistent way, then you are hopeless. I would love to see you face any one of these women and say to their face that they are lying. Do you have the guts to do that?
extanker
Say what now?
May 25, 1990: Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, in a meeting with President Roh Tae Woo, said: "I would like to take the opportunity here to humbly reflect upon how the people of the Korean Peninsula went through unbearable pain and sorrow as a result of our country's actions
January 16, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, in a speech at dinner with President Roh Tae Woo, said: "We the Japanese people, first and foremost, have to bear in our mind the fact that your people experienced unbearable suffering and sorrow during a certain period in the past because of our nation's act,
January 17, 1992: Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, at a policy speech on a visit to South Korea, said:. "What we should not forget about relationship between our nation and your nation is a fact that there was a certain period in the thousands of years of our company when we were the victimizer and you were the victim. I would like to once again express a heartfelt remorse and apology for the unbearable suffering and sorrow that you experienced during this period because of our nation's act.
These are just the first three I glanced at in the middle of the list. Please explain to me exactly how the bold parts aren't an admission of guilt?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan
OssanAmerica
If you think all CWs were 14 year olds you need to check your head. Such young girls were sold off by their parents to cover family debts, a practice not uncommon in Korea at the time.
Prof Ahn of Seoul University questioned 50 former CW and concluded that their testimony as "not credible".
https://docs.google.com/document/d/171fHdHD-xFU1g7-XAuuYVhR4wMwZ9VBwKVXPCu78riE/edit
OssanAmerica
Please show evidence that the term was used "way before" Korea politicized the issue.
The Dutch Indonesian CW issue is the one documented example of IJA personnel actually kidnapping and "forced sexual labor" as while the Dutch women were mostly prostitutes, there were some who clearly were not. However, this is not relevant to this article, to SK-JPN relations, or the 2015 CW "irreversible" Agreement which SK reversed.
showchinmono
As for such 14 year-old girl's story, please be reminded that no one else, absolutely NOBODY else could attest
such stories as truths but her own variety of testimonies. When so-called victim's testimonies vary this often at ordinary court, it would never provide sufficient evidence capacity.
Who could possibly tell how old LEE YONG SOO exactly was and IS NOW and if she was really a victim of IJA's comfort stations after such disgusting transition of her testimonies
showchinmono
When she testified for the 1st time in 1992, she was allegedly 63 years and 6 months old. Since then her testimonies have changed incredibly, ups and downs, right or left and she didn't even talk about how she could return home from Taiwan in 1947 and never talked about how she had spent additional 2 years in Taiwan or wherever else. Most importantly, NOBODY asked those questions and even didn't touch on any sort of fact-checking but treat her as some goddess Halmeoni
http://chosonsinbo.com/jp/2012/09/riyongsu/
IloveCoffee
@extanker
There should be a word for people like you. Actually there is, but if i use it, my comment will get removed. Listen, you apparently do not speak Japanese fluently, and you don't have a good understanding of Japanese culture. Read the texts in Japanese, and you will see that there is no admission of guilt. Japanese culture is all about context. Every word matters greatly. These apologies are crafted carefully as to convey one meaning for the international audience, and another for the domestic one.
I am not saying all of these apologies are fake, some were descent, in particular the Kono statement, but like i said, they were buried in a mountain of revisionism and denials. You can't possibly expect Koreans or anybody to take these few descent apologies seriously when they are followed by decades of non-stop revisionism and denials. Often the people who make them are themselves members of Nippon Kaigi. Imagine a German PM apologizing for the war, but later visits Hitler's grave, and is member of Hitler was a hero association. Would you believe anything that guy had to say? And furthermore, Japan is currently engaged in a worldwide crackdown on comfort women statues. You seriously believe someone who feels even a drop of regret or remorse would so fanatically pursue and even threaten other countries to remove all statutes and mentions of comfort women? Even the current PM himself have said comfort women were not sex slaves, and now you expect me to just believe he changed his mind? Don't make me laugh.
You know very well that there is hardly any Japanese politician who doesn't believe in the revisionist narrative of their history. Their actions speak louder than their words. In Japanese culture, apologies aren't what you think they are. Apologies are just formality here. People think as long as you say "i am sorry", you have done your obligation, and it doesn't matter whether or not your actions align with your words. That's the general culture, and that's part of the reason why nobody trusts each other in Japan. People lie to each other, and expect others to lie to them. Apologies mean nothing to people here.
Well if that's what Prof Ahn of Seoul University says, then it's settled.
showchinmono
How about this one.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/taisen/letter.html
Really? SKoreans should not expect Japan to apologize in the 1st place then.
IloveCoffee
@showchinmono
Which part of this text was the admission of guilt? There is nothing in this text that contradicts the official revisionist narrative.
First it says ''so called Comfort Women'', meaning, ''there aren't really comfort women'', second, it says their dignity was hurt under the Japanese military, again, a typical Netouyo would look at this and say "i completely agree. They were either sold by their parents into prostitution, or they were well paid prostitutes". "It is regrettable that the J-military had to recruit these women, it must have been humiliating for them". There is no mention that they were COERCED BY THE J-MILITARY INTO SLAVERY. That sentence is missing. Again, context is what matters. Also, Koizumi did visit the Yasukuni Shrine multiple times.
I think most of them just want an honest recognition of history more than anything else.
OssanAmerica
The term "revisionist" applies more to South Korea than Japan. Korea was part of the Japanese Empire from 1910 to 1945. It became a Japanese colony through the 1910 Annexation Treaty, which was recognized at the time by the U.S. and U.K. Korea was never "invaded" by Japan to become a colony. Koreans were given Japanese citizenship and many Koreans emmigrated to Japan. Koreans themselves were split into those who supported Japanese rule and those who opposed it. Some 240,000 Koreans served in the Japanese military, with some rising to high ranks. A good number were charged as War Criminals at the end of WWII, with one being executed. Former SK President Chung Hee Park himself was a former officer in the IJA. After WWII ended, the "Korean govt in exile" which had always been against Japanese rule was given recognition by the allied victors. As a result anti-Japan sentiment became a basis for the new ROK.
The result is a biased historical revisionism which denies the role that Korea played in WWII, denial of the benefits gained by Korea during the colonial period, an institutionalized bias which permeates South Korean school textbooks. Anything and everything possible is blamed on Japan, while refusing to recognize any role Korea played in controversial issues.
For example, a number of South Korean historians have made public their view that most CWs were recruited through Korean brokers, some of whom used deceit. A number of comfort Stations were managed and operated by Koreans, which makes perfect sense as the CWs were Korean. Some of them have been prosecuted for "hurting the feelings of CWs".
The Anti-Japan sentiment has grown beyond control and is used as a poltical tool within SK often as a distraction from domestic issues, and to gather voting support. It is used to channel Korean hatred towards an outsider, to establish a "common enemy" with North Korea, as SK relies on the US and NK relies on China. It has also been used as a diplomatic tool in dealing with Japan, but it now seems that Japan is no longer going to allow that to go on, as clearly South Korea has overplayed it's hand in this regard for too long.
Complaing about Japanese "uyoku" right wing is ridiculous when South Korea is entirely right wing drunk on nationalism and hate.
showchinmono
First You don’t seem to know Japanese word “いわゆる“ (often translated to English “ so-called”) does not have as negative implication as English adjective “so-called” has. It simply means “what people generally call, think, refer to”
Second If you don’t like that Japanese word “いわゆる“ wrongfully attaching negative implication to proper Japanese usage of that word, you can refer to MOFA’s English translation on the same apology letter which doesn’t translate as you did.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/women/fund/pmletter.html
Third. However or whatever a typical Netuyo would look at it and say, it has nothing to do with PMs and their apologies.
Fourth. The J-Military DID NOT COURSE KOREAN WOMEN INTO SLAVERY
Fifth. No It’s not context that matters to you and SKorean Anti-Japan Tribes. It is whether or not Japan completely surrender under Korean fake narratives that matters to you and them.
Last. Visiting Yasukuni afterwards and sincerity of apologies have no relevance to each other.
Don’t forget SK government never apologized to its own comfort women victims and yet, you and Anti-Japan tribes still questioning sincerity of Japan’s apologies. What kind of Joke this is.
showchinmono
*Fourth. The J-Military DID NOT COERCE KOREAN WOMEN INTO SLAVERY*
tictactogo
Can't agree more.
http://scholarsinenglish.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-comfort-women-by-chunghee-sarah-soh.html?m=1
Jonathan Prin
There is a world between how German leaders deal with their past and what Japanese ones do.
Have Japanese leaders go to foreign war shrines and bow on their knees ?
I am French and respect 100% Germans by now. My grandfather could not in the past without strong political leaders showing by action the guilt of their war history.
It is called forgiveness and you need to be two to make it happen.
Jonathan Prin
Pity so many readers are so far from understanding.
Europe and America are leaders and will remain so as long as that understanding is not part of the mental attitude needed of rest of world.