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S Korea, Japan use G7 to improve ties long marked by animosity

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By FOSTER KLUG, KIM TONG-HYUNG and MARI YAMAGUCHI

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S Korea, Japan use G7 to improve ties long marked by animosity

That is good news indeed. Let's hope SK doesn't do the political flip-flip (again) as a cheap way for a politician to get easy votes.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Good to hear. Good relations between South Korea and Japan are tantamount to stability in this tumultuous region. While the "lecturer" states they should subordinate themselves to Biden's America for survival, I think they would be fine without. Japan makes excellent battleships, and Korea's are even better. Perhaps, for the time being, allying with the U.S. is a good idea. Eventually, however, South Korea will probably annex North Korea and be able to protect Japan. Yoon and Kishida are doing the right thing here by burying the hatchet and making a nouveau Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. Kishida and Yoon using Hiroshima as a backdrop is kind of an unnecessary and overly dramatic guilt trip to impose upon their respective citizens, but if it works in improving relations, it's worth it.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

In South Korea, there are signs of the bursting of the land bubble, and trade is in the red due to the decrease in imports from China, and the national finances are deteriorating.

In addition, 20,000 to 30,000 people renounce their nationality every year.

More than 50,000 people commit suicide every year, which is close to the worst figure in the OECD.

Add to that the worst low birth rate and the ever-increasing rate of poverty among the young and old. (About half of the elderly are poor and the youth unemployment rate is over 25%.)

Things are no better than in 1997, the year the economy collapsed.

This is not the time to be anti-Japanese, but for Koreans who have been imprinted in their education, friendship with Japan is unforgivable.

Many Koreans say that a sincere apology and reparations for historical issues are necessary first. As evidence of this, the current president's approval rating is on the decline and is already below 20%, which can be said to be a dangerous area.

If a left-leaning party that dominates South Korea's parliament wins elections, this seeming friendship will come to an end once and for all.

I think that would be a happy thing for the majority of Koreans who think Japan is evil and an enemy of South Korea. I want you to enjoy Anti-Japan to your heart's content.

By the way, there is nothing that Korea can make that Japan cannot. Japan, which has been building ships since before World War I, and South Korea, which learned shipbuilding with technical support from Japan after World War II, have the same level of technology. It can not be said.

Especially warships and submarines are quite different, but I wonder why there are people who think that South Korea can make better ones.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

this is a good sign - these two need to leave past behind and work together for tomorrow. indeed, forgive, but don't forget - make sure what happened is taught properly instead of skirting around the issue. but use the lessons learned to build a better future together

4 ( +4 / -0 )

South Korea always flip flops. Always changes it's mind.

With the anti-Japan movement, is more then history, more then apology, more then compensation. It's about Korea holding Power! Control! Takeshima, If you can control History, You can control the Future! S.Korea knows this, they understand apologetic Japan, and how to squeeze every drop of out Japan.

South Korea is not sincere or honest when dealing with Japan. South Korea says Yes today, and No tomorrow. No honor, can't keep a promise made, agreement signed.

South Korea is not a reliable Ally.

One administration can be Pro China, Pro North Korea, while at the same time hating Japan, and hating USA, even though we are the lifeline of S.Korea.

South Korea wants to be part of G7 even though they flip flop and have no honor, S.Korea want more power, to play more Squid Games on repeat. Korean mentality sees leverage, compromise, as a tool to benefit Korea, once part of G7, very quickly Koreans can back up China or Russia in votes. Allowing shady Korea, lying Korea to be part of G7 would be a Disaster In the Making!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

@What ol' Jack Burton always says

Could you tell me what you know that Korea can do but Japan can't?

Without specific examples, it's just slander.

It's the same with various issues where there are only Japanese and Korean testimonies.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

@Elvis is here

Let's hope SK doesn't do the political flip-flip (again) 

A flip-flop is guaranteed because the Democratic party will take presidency in as little as next year, if they reach the impeachment threshold. The next president-in-waiting is the most hardcore anti-Japan candidate who makes Moon a moderate by comparison.

@ A.N

there is nothing that Korea can make that Japan cannot.

The list of things that Korea can make that Japan cannot.

1) Advanced 3nm chips. Japan's best is 28nm. Rapidus's 2nm plan is a fraud.

2) OLED. JOLED went bankrupt.

3) Fusion reactor. Only the Korean one is able to sustain 100 million K fusion temperature for more than 1 second(30 seconds). Japanese one hit 56 million K before being scrapped.

4) THAAD class ballistic missile interceptors.

5) A long list of hot selling weapons.

6) EVs that consumers actually want to buy.

7) Fighter jet avionics.

I wonder why there are people who think that South Korea can make better ones.

Because Korean submarines are built to battle Japan, while Japanese submarines were built to battle Russia.

Korean submarines operate in more extreme conditions than Japanese submarines as they have to cross the Japan SOSUS undetected and stay underwater for more than 30 days evading JMSDF maritime patrol.

KSS-III's ability to stay underwater for more than a month and cover 3,000 km is the reason why Canada wants KSS-III, because this allows a diesel electric submarine to do what previously required a nuclear submarine to do, arctic patrol.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/article-canada-needs-to-chart-a-clear-course-for-increased-defence-spending/

Canada needs to chart a clear course for increased defence spending

*Two years ago, the navy started looking at new subs. In April, the *Ottawa Citizen reported the navy was interested in as many as 12 subs for a price of at least $60-billion.

In a meeting with The Globe’s editorial board this week, Vice-Adm. Topshee emphasized the decision is to be made by the federal government but mapped out a clear path that could be taken.

*Given time constraints, and Canada’s needs, the purchase of subs from a country such as South Korea would make sense, said Vice-Adm. Topshee. *Korea’s diesel-electric KSS-III likely meets Canada’s requirements, most crucially being able to stay at sea for several months and cover thousands of nautical miles, including to and from the Canadian Arctic.

-12 ( +0 / -12 )

It's tough sledding for the next candidate from Yoon's party. Poll was taken Mid April.

"President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating fell below 30 percent for the first time in five months, a poll showed Friday.

In the poll of 1,002 adults conducted by Gallup Korea from Tuesday to Thursday, the positive assessment of Yoon's performance declined 4 percentage points from the previous week to 27 percent.

Yoon's disapproval rating was 65 percent, up 4 percentage points from the previous week."

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/04/113_349075.html#:~:text=President%20Yoon%20Suk%20Yeol%27s%20approval,previous%20week%20to%2027%20percent.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Japan is #3 in GDP, South Korea is #11, and China is #2. There is a lot of economic power in the Far East. Imagine how strong a united Korea would be!

It is a shame that Xi has turned China into a pariah state. It didn't have to be this way.

As for Russia, it took Putin 23 years to rebuild Russia's army, and only 15 months to destroy it. If the other countries in the Far East decided to grab Siberia, Putin would be powerless to stop them. Oh, right, he still has that one T 34 tank left.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Samit Basu

①In the first place, Korean semiconductor manufacturing cannot be completed without Japanese manufacturing equipment and materials.

On the contrary, Japan can manufacture semiconductors 100% domestically.

There is also no evidence that Rapidus is a scam.

Rapidus is a collaboration of eight representative Japanese companies with IBM and TSMC, and is backed by the Japanese and US governments.

The US government's policy change has intensified the semiconductor competition with China. Among them, Japan, the United States, and Taiwan are working together to contain China. South Korea's Samsung, which exports semiconductors to China, is unfortunately not included in that circle.

⓶In terms of the share of OLED manufacturing equipment in 2022, Canon in Japan ranked first. In the market competition, we cannot beat low-priced products made in China or South Korea, but this can also be domestically produced by Japan alone.

③ Nuclear fusion reactor? I don't think there is any superiority or inferiority in how to proceed in a research that is not yet completed. Be proud of yourself when you're done.

⓸ Japan is already working with the United States to develop next-generation HGV countermeasure missiles that will replace the SM-3, so it's not as if South Korea can do it and Japan can't.

⓹ Most of South Korea's weapons are license agreements or selfish copies of imported weapons. It wasn't that long ago that a black box was opened without permission and the US and Germany were outraged.

South Korea cannot produce the K9, K2, KF-21, etc. on its own because it is manufactured under license and the domestic production rate is low.

Japan has been producing weapons for more than 100 years, and there is nothing that it cannot produce domestically, whether it be fighter planes, tanks, or submarines.

⑥ The EV that consumers really want is not a dangerous car like a Korean car that catches fire in a few seconds and leaves no bones if you get caught in it, but a car that charges quickly and is safe.

Japanese manufacturers also hold many patents for EVs, but it is still necessary to enhance safety measures, such as battery safety, in order to provide them to consumers. The Japanese don't make cars that easily kill the buyer.

⑦ FA50 is made by Boeing, but is it okay?

Didn't you know that the KF-21's development was delayed because avionics technology was not available from the US?

Just because it's manufactured in Korea under license doesn't mean the technology is Korean.

It's like putting a Korean satellite on a Russian rocket and if it succeeds, you've succeeded in developing the rocket.

I have listed many things above, but there is nothing that Korea can do that Japan cannot.

The submarine is a degraded copy of Germany's, and cannot be compared to Japan's own development, right?

Although it was manufactured in Korea, it seems that various problems have occurred, which is unfortunate.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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