politics

N Korea calls for Japanese apology, reparations for colonial rule

41 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

41 Comments
Login to comment

another words.. please give us more money????? is that what are they saying?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When has NK ever apologized for any it's crimes?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lemme see if I got this right- South Korean Lawmakers are dissatisfied with Japan's level of apology and want compensation for all Korean women who were forced into sex slavery, 60% of Chinese citizens say they have a negative opinions of Japan, and now the North Koreans are demanding apologies and compensation for their suffering under Japan's colonial rule.

Now what was that question again about whether or not dropping nuclear bombs on Japan was necessary or not ? And who was that poster out there telling us all how the world "despises America to their core" ?

"and it's a long fly ball... and it's outta here !!!"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

N Korea calls for Japanese apology, reparations for colonial rule

NO

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Give them a finger and start kicking out those Pachinkos which fund NK. Next are the Pro-NK schools.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

i agree with the above post.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Isn`t there enough current matters to focus on rather than events that ended over 60 years ago? Makes me glad to be from a country with a short term memory...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Folks in case you all dont know Jpn has kinda hinted at resolving issues with NK once the abduction thing is settled, then Jpn will likely open bilateral ties, offer aid, dont know about reparations but, anyone who has paid attn knows Jpn is holding out pending the abduction thingy being concluded to Jpns satisfaction

So, will this ever actually happen........probably not in a lot of our life times

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I seriously think it was not very good of Japan to only say sorry to half a country... I don't like NK but Japan was very shallow here.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Q: Why is North Korea as it is?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

North Korea should apologize to their own people for destroying their lives by having total control on everything that they do from the time they wake up in the morning until they sleep at night. North Korea is a country that is run by tyrants that think they are gods. So sad.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The Japanese Prime Minister and Emperor should apologize in a global broadcast and the govt. should pay reparations to the victims without further delay.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

North Koreans harbor deep resentment of Japan for ...

I bet they harbor much more resentment towards their current leader. Many might even wish for Japan to return and recolonize North Korea.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

One day, when North Korea grows up to be a big boy, it will look back on episodes like this with acute embarrassment and it will be able to reflect on a strange time when the country was communally nuts, thanks to eccentric and mentally unhinged men that somehow managed to convince the country that they were their 'Dear Leaders'. But that's a long way off. It's a shame they don't have great reserves of oil there, because then our good friends from the US of A might be more inclined to roll their sleeves up and 'liberate' the people. Or the Chinese, for that matter - who might call it the Korean Autonomous Region or something snazzy like that, and whilst they siphon profits back home they could introduce the folk to cool modern things like; food and the internet. But, alas, the people will just have to stick with their Dear Leaders for now. More's the pity.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

ha ha ha oh wow. north korea xD

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan apologizes (yet again, and (yet again) everyone says "Nah, ya didn't mean it.", "Ya weren't sincere enough.", "Where's the money?".

A Japanese PM could stand in front of the Diet and publicly cut his nuts off as a show of remorse, and everyone would say, "Nah, he's a Japanese PM, he wasn't using them anyway - not good enough."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This is so stupid! The global economy must really be bad if you've got countries whining about getting apologies {again and again and again} and then asking for some money too. Pathetic!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

North Korea didn't get an apology because it's not really a country. I would call it a hostage situation at a three ring circus. Kim Jong-il is holding 24Mil people at gunpoint saying watch and see what crazy stunt I pull next.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Q: Why is North Korea as it is?"

Being the village idiot is a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

But you bring up an interesting point. There is a legal doctrine of mitigating damages that basically says that if a person, let's say, gets mud on their shoes from a passing car and then walks into an art museum and starts dancing on a 2000 year old rug, the car driver is not responsible for the damage to the rug. And if a person doesn't bother to clean their shoes, the driver shouldn't be responsible for those either.

This applies because North Korea has done ZILCH to improve its situation over the years, it has wallowed in blame and self-injury to the point where it is ridiculous to point a finger at something Japan did a century ago and claim "damages."

I have presented this comparison before, but not only has South Korea run laps around its developmentally disabled neighbor, Vietnam has too. I think Albania, Romania and Kazakhstan have too.

Maybe its nuclear program was an attempt at self help, but look how much further those other countries (and Japan!) have come in a couple of decades without nuclear development. Stunted and silly, North Korea has deserved its dunce cap and its place staring at the wall in its corner of the world classroom. You don't give apologies or money or nuclear weapons to six year olds.

Having said that, I don't see why this apology to Koreans and other Asians should not be seen as a blanket expression of remorse. Why couldn't North Korea make a statement that they accepted the apology that Japan offered to South Korea, and then let JAPAN deny it was extended? Because Japan would not have denied it and because North Korea always takes the low road.

And that is why North Korea is the way it is.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

North Koreans harbor deep resentment of Japan

They also seem to harbor deep resentment to S. Korea and the US when convenient.

Just ignore them.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Branded at 01:10 PM JST - 20th August Lemme see if I got this right- South Korean Lawmakers are dissatisfied >with Japan's level of apology and want compensation for all Korean women >who were forced into sex slavery,

No you dfon't have it right. A few SKorean lawmakers are dissatisfied. Officially the SKOrean government is satisfied.

60% of Chinese citizens say they have a negative opinions of Japan,

But they love and flock to Japan in droves to buy high end Japanese products. 70% of Japanese don't like Chinas either but both of them are the biggest trading partners in Asia.

and now the North Koreans are demanding apologies and compensation for >their suffering under Japan's colonial rule.

Wow, you must be the only alleged "American" on this planet who gives a rodent's hindquarters about ANYTHING North Korea has to say.

Now what was that question again about whether or not dropping nuclear >bombs on Japan was necessary or not ? And who was that poster out there >telling us all how the world "despises America to their core" ?

Firs off it's Atomic not Nuclear. Second, China and the two Koreas have NOTHING to do with our use of the A-bombs in WWII. Finally, even I hae to admit far more countries and peope around the world despise us than Japan for the si9mple reason that our troops are currently killing people, whereas Japan hasn't at all, not one, in the last 65 years.

"and it's a long fly ball... and it's outta here !!!"

0 ( +0 / -0 )

YongYang at 03:41 PM JST - 20th August Q: Why is North Korea as it is?

A. Because China sent troops to help NKorea fight the United Nations when they had almost lost. If not for China, all of the Korean penninsula today could have been as prosperous as SKorea.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If NKorea wants an apology, even if the sole purpose is to get money, they need to start behaving like a civilized country and establish normal relations with Japan. Unfortunately that isn't going to happen anytime soon because NKorea is a militarist country worshipping a single leader, something the Japanese have first hand experience with, and as a result a high degree of aversion to it. On the other hand a real collapse of the Kim regime and a change to democracy would probably result in an outpouring of aid and contributions from both Japan and SKorea.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

OssanAmerica has a point. Japan has normalized relations with South Korea. They don't with North Korea. There will be no apologies issued to an immature, hostile country. Pyongyang wants to be treated like the big boys, but still hasn't learned to do without it's pacifier.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"because NKorea is a militarist country worshipping a single leader, something the Japanese have first hand experience with"

I don't know if there are any A. Toynbee fans here, but this quirky comment explains a lot. I believe it was Toynbee who came up with this notion that colonies adopt the institutions of their colonizers and kind of continue along a parallel course that they adopt during a certain period. Eventually, the colonized society comes to represent a time-capsule of the colonizer, even after the colonizer moves on.

That colonial period represents a transfer of "social DNA".

So in some ways, one might say that NKorea is a time-capsule of militarist Japan and Maoist China, while SKorea might be a time-capsule of what? a mix of wartime/postwar Japan and the US?

Viewed in that light, North Korea has suffered a lot of damage, but mostly because it was colonized by the wrong people at the wrong time. Japan got a healthy postwar shot of the best social DNA it could ever have hoped for when its institutions were fully receptive. Japan emulated a vital US and the rest is history.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"If NKorea wants an apology, even if the sole purpose is to get money, they need to start behaving like a civilized country and establish normal relations with Japan..."

Who has gone out of their way to try and exterminate the country by withholding emergency food aid, energy, or other financial assistance... like the more civilized Americans, South Koreans, and Chinese have ! Japan's diplomacy style has been an absolute failure- completely detrimental to ongoing discussions between various partys.

Japan's actions have been so heinous that they have actually been kicked out of high level strategy meetings with the USA, China, and South Korea over how to handle the North's nuclear ambitions.

Talk about a lack of "civility" !

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I am still wondering what good apologies are from people who likely had nothing to do with the incident from many years ago... Also, we all know that the apologies are not exclusive... North Korea hasn't exactly been a saint recently...

I believe we should learn from the past, not dig up dirt for some cheap publicity.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Let me get this straight, they want an apology for Japan's sadistic war mongering in the past, all the while they engage in sadistic war mongering today? Pot calling the kettle black. South Korea is a different scenario.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Branded at 01:51 AM JST - 21st August "If NKorea wants an apology, even if the sole purpose is to get money, they need to start behaving like a civilized country and establish normal relations with Japan..."

Who has gone out of their way to try and exterminate the country by >withholding emergency food aid, energy, or other financial assistance... >like the more civilized Americans, South Koreans, and Chinese have ! >Japan's diplomacy style has been an absolute failure- completely >detrimental to ongoing discussions between various partys.

And where do you think all that aid is going. NKorea has continued to prohibit monitoring of aid to ensire that it reaches the people.

Japan's actions have been so heinous that they have actually been kicked >out of high level strategy meetings with the USA, China, and South Korea >over how to handle the North's nuclear ambitions.

Yea if you're American I'm Ethiopian. Or maybe you just hate Japan so much you'd say anything? Japan was never "kicked out" of the 6 party talks, it was a demand made by your buddies North Korea, the ones who just killed 46 SKorean sailors, kidnapped SKorean and Japanese civilians, have over 200,000 political prisoners in concentration camps, defies the United Nations, and starves it's people to mainrtain it's military.Only you could stand up for them.

Talk about a lack of "civility" !

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Ossanethiopian"-

"Japan was never "kicked out" of the 6 party talks, it was a demand made by your buddies North Korea"

Not according to how it played out right here at JT...

"Japan played a risky game at the resumed six-nation talks on denuclearizing North Korea on Friday and Saturday, calling on the four other parties to help settle its bilateral dispute with Pyongyang while rejecting their calls to join them in providing aid to the reclusive state in exchange for its denuclearization steps."

Starts out with Japan refusing to join the other nations in providing aid.

"Tokyo has remained firm that it will not participate in the aid unless progress is made in resolving the past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents"

How selfish ! Japan is single handidly risking the security of the region, nuclear arms build-up, a possible catastrophe over... adbductions/defections ???

"experts warn the strategy could further jeopardize Japan’s presence in the multilateral framework"

And it did ! Japan got booted !!! More precisely...

"It is not North Korea but Japan that has been in trouble,’’ said Zhao Hongwei, a Chinese expert on international politics."

Ouch- that musta stung !!!

"South Korean chief delegate Kim Sook, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, urged Japan to get involved in the aid scheme, saying he is dissatisfied that Japan is not taking part."

Obvious lack of civility if you ask me- :*) But wait- let's hear from the Russian delegation...

"Russia also expressed dissatisfaction with Japan’s inaction on the assistance, according to sources close to the multilateral talks."

I could go much-much further Ossan- it seems that once again your angry little finger is pointed in the wrong direction... It seems pretty obvious, when it comes to the way Japan has handled this crisis... "Only you could stand up for them" !

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Branded:

Contrary to your belief, your opponent(OssanAmerica) has a point. Declining an aid to North Korea is NOT a selfish act. There's absolutely no reason for any democratic nation to offer an aid to a country that is hostile to an entire international community. Your characterization of Japan's "un-civility" in this respect is utterly problematic. The examples in your posting above are irrelevant to Japan's political decision against North Korea.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Amerijap... Not only do "I" beg to differ...

"It is not North Korea but Japan that has been in trouble,’’ said Zhao Hongwei, a Chinese expert on international politics."

"Russia also expressed dissatisfaction with Japan’s inaction on the assistance, according to sources close to the multilateral talks."

The Koreans ??? Pretty much the same-

"dissatisfied that Japan is not taking part."

As for this...

"There's absolutely no reason for any democratic nation to offer an aid to a country that is hostile to an entire international community."

Imagine if the US took that tone with Japan at the end of WWII ! Time for Japan to stop acting selfish and join the Asian community for the sake of regional security.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hopefully Japan won't give N. Korea any money. Japan needs to keep that money to help with finding all of elderly people missing in Japan right now.....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Branded:

Amerijap... Not only do "I" beg to differ...

Yeah, the info you snip from other article (13 July 2010) on JT tells me that other countries have a different point of view on Japan's strategy on multi-lateral talks. I don't have any problems with their critical views on Japan's strategy on the talks. But you call Japan's behavior in this context "selfish"??? How so? None of these statements characterize Japan in that way.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This debate on the 6 party talks was on my initiation, confirmed by a few posts on JT, a few months before it was implemented. As far as Japan is concerned, their position was heavily influenced by former PM Koizumi's faction, who were heavily influenced by former Pres. Bush Administration's "Axis of Evil", and "Arc of Instability" policies. The debate on JT covers generally Japan, DPRK and US, but the level of complexity is waaaaaaaaaay over those variables. The Bush Administration ended, and so did the 6 party talks. It is time to restart the Talks.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japan should offer to dispose of the colonial-era transport and roadworks infrastructure that still affect millions of North Koreans today.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As a side note, it was during the early part of the 6 party talks that someone from the Koizumi faction conveyed to me they found my influence at the 6 party talks "irritating".

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This piece of info is something the Koizumi Group did not know. If the 6 party talks restarts in the next 6months, it will be the same, "action, reaction" that occurred before the start of the 6party talks. An overview of developments in key areas needed to be understood, then the key individuals must press the issue for something to happen: this takes coordination and connections.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

From another artile on JapanToday "Korean atomic-bomb survivors and Korean victims of air raids on Tokyo" Are they are demanding (in part) repirations from the Japanese for American bombing raids?!? hmmm Firstly, imho post war repirations in Europe following WW1 didn't turn out so well for those interested parties and demand of money from Peter when Paul did the deed, seems deluded to me.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

....but then again, As Lewis Black puts it, "North Korea's the county that the monkeys from The Wizard of Oz came from."

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites