black_jack comments

I always observe that whenever there is a news article about the territorial dispute between Japan and China, many Chinese nationals (probably some of them are paid by CCP) bring the invasion of Japan in China in the 30's and 40's as if this will give China the right to behave like a selfish bully in the region, or probably to distract other readers from the real problem.

What China is doing is very irresponsible to the security and the peace of the reagion. And please don't bring Ishihara to this topic. The whole problem was triggered by China when China officially claimed these islands in the early 70's for the first time in history when the UN reported that the area might contain a huge reserve of gas and oil. China never cared about these islands and never considred them as their own territories. The Chinese indeference to these islands before the discovey of the natural resources proves that. They didn't try to gain the control of them after Japanese loss in WWII which would be a great opportunity. When those islands was under US administration, China never critisized or complained, even when the the Americans were using those islands for military maneuvers.

Koreans are the last people who can critisize Japan about war crimes considering the fact that many Koreans committed war crimes as Japanese soldiers in WWII. And lets not forget what Korean troops did to many innocent Vietnamese girls during Vietnam war.

Does the word "shame" exist in the Korean language? They protested and lobbied against Tokyo 2020 sending tons of letters and e-mails to the IOC members and international media. The Korean government banned sea products from even some Japanese prefectures that don't face the sea and thus do not produce or export sea products just before the IOC meeting to give the impression that Japan is contaminated with radiation. But when the event was awarded to Tokyo they suddenly started to pretend as if they were supporting Tokyo 2020, and now are asking for cooperation (i.e. one-sided aid from Japan to Korea) because they are having troubles in their plan for 2018 games. I can't imagine how Korea is going to help Japan for 2020. Are they going to provide financial and technological help to Japan? Just like during WWII, this shows how quickly and easily they switch the side for their own interest without feeling any shame.

What do you mean by "cooperate"? Does it mean that Japan is going to fund Korea to build the stadium and other olympic facilities just like in WC2002 where Korea did not show any fraction of appreciation and has not returned the money that they borrowed yet?

What I've heard is that Korean military is more mature and work well with the Japanese counterparts. They both conducted many drills together along with the Americans in the past. The problem is that their immature and childish media and public opibion always critisize them hysterically when they see them trainng with JSDF.

And let's not forget that the father of this lady was an official of the Japanese Imperial Army. To me it looks like this lady is desperately trying to get rid of the the image of her country as an accomplice of Japan by playing the victim card since her father volunteered for the Japanese military like many other Korean men during WWII.

South Korea, why don't you face your own history before critisizing Japan? Don't you know you were accomplice to Japan during WWII, and conducted many war crimes? You cannot switch the side easily and pretend that you were victims!

I think the prime minister made a wise desicision of not mentionting "remorse" or "regret" in his speech to prevent China and its tributary state, Kore,a from using the history issue as a political card. I hope that the future prime ministers do the same.

Is there any day that Korea doesn't whine about Japan? It's getting rediculous. Now wonder that they can't re-unify their peninsula if they care about such a small thing rather than more important things.

To Grandfield,

Again and again you Korean-sympethizers are so desperately trying to talk as if there was a war between Japan and Korea or as if Korea was fighting against Japan. I am going to repeat and emphasize here again that there was no war between Japan and Korea and thus there is no war-crime issue between the two nations. So stop including Korea among the countries that were fighting against the Japanese empire. When it comes to war crimes in WWII, Koreans are also one of those who committed them (in China and against POWs captured by Japanese military). So Korea is in no position to talk about war crimes of WII. They are one of those who need to apologize. And if you say that the reason of Philippines, Vietnam etc. for being less anti-Japanese than Koreans is due to the short periof of time of Japanese occupation, then how do you explain that Taiwan which experienced a longer period of Japanese occupation than Korea does not hold such grudge? How do you explain that those south-east asian countries that were european colonies for a few centuries do not hate their former colonial power even without receiving any kind of apology or compensation? It's all because of anti-Japanese education or brainwash that Koreans receive from early ages. Korean government needs japan as a skapegoat to distract the attention of the people from their internal problems.

I agree with Chamkun. I would like to add my point.

One of the biggest mistake that japan did to South Korea, escalating them to demand more and more and thus hindering a good relation between the two nations is that Japan took a soft stance against Korea. When Japan normalized with korea, it paid tremedous amount of money, and left her own assests to Korea, thinking that the relation between the two nations will improve. However, Korean government hided this fact from their citizens and acted as if Japan paid nothing. Same thing happended recently. When Japanese media started reporting about the existence of comfort women whose majority where Japanese, Korean media also started echoing this report. Then suddenly many women in Korea started claiming that they were comfort women. Then Japanese government apologized to the former comfor women in the famous Kono satement of 1993, and founded the Asian Women Fund to compensate these comfort women. However, things got worse and worse. The tertm "Comfort Women" changed to "Sex Slaves" somehow, and their desription from "paid prostitutes working in brothels adjacent to military facilities" changed to "Women who were kidnapped by the Japanese military to be raped".

The Korean reaction to the Japanese apology and compensation reminds me of a begger who was begging me in a convenience store. One day when I was in a convenience store, a beggar who saw me receiving many changes, approached to me and ask for a coin. I gave him one coin, which encaouraged him to beg more. So I gave him a few coins thinking that he will get satisfied and leave me soon. However things got escalated, and he started demanding bill notes. he even followed me. I ignored him and ran away.

My point is that Japan should never apologize and pay compensation any more, if she wants to improve the relation with Korea. Japan should learn from China in that sense. There is no country other than China which inflicted damage to Korean peninsula the most. Korea was China's tributary state for more that 1000 years, and invaded Korea many times. The Chinese are also the main cause of the division of Korean penisula. However, Koreans never demand apology and compensation from China, because they know that China will not treat them seriously.

Ok, let's go back to the topic as suggested by the moderator.

Koreans just started negative campaign against the rising flag recently, especially after London Olympics when a Korean soccer player was about to lose medal for showing a political message saying "Dokdo is Korean territory" after victory against Japan. Then the Korean olympic committee pointed out that the design of the Japanese gymnastic uniform was based on the rising sun flag which is offensive accoriding to them. They used this tactic to distract the attention of IOC from the incidence. Since then, Koreans start sending spam e-mails to many companies and organizations in the world who were using the design of the rising sun flag in their products. Their negative campaign was encouraged by their media and accelerated to the extent that they started accusing every advertisement or design that includes radial rays or anything similar even if they did not look like the rising sun flag. Before the London Olympic, Koreans had no problem with this flag. The Japanese soccer and baseball fans always used this flag in international competition even in Korea to cheer their teams. Koreans didn't have any problem with that. Korean navy conducted many military training with the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force which uses this flag on their ships. Koreans did not have problem with that. To me it looks like Koreans just came up with a stupid excuse to bash Japan and to satisfy their inferirity complex against Japan, just like the stupid argument of the name of "Sea of Japan / East Sea". The best thing that we can do is to ignore them and not create a precedence by succumbing to their requests. Otherwise, they will start to complain about the national flag of Japan by saying, for example, "Japanese flag is the symbol of imperialism and colonialism, and hence should be banned just like Nazi Swastika blah, blah", or anything that symbolizes Japan. Koreans should realize that they look very immature and insecure bunch to outsiders by trying to find whatever they can come up with to critisize Japan, and should better start using their percistence behavior to improve their economy, politics and promotes the unification process.

Then how do you explain that there were many Koreans who volunteered in the Japanese army during the early years of Sino-Japanese war and Pacific war when joining military was not forced yet.

Even if Koreans were forced to join the japanese military, does this give them the right to kill innocent Chinese civilians and torture POWs?

The reason why Koreans hate Japan is the fruit of anti-Japanese education conducted by the Korean government to unite people and distract their attention from the internal problems. This anti-Japanese feeling is also being stirred and used by the polititians to gain votes and distract people's attention from corruption in their politics.

Another reason why Koreans hate Japan so much is because of their insecurity and inferiority complex against Japan.

To sfjp330

It looks like you have difficulty in understanding my argument. I am not saying that Japan did not committed war crimes in China. I am pointing out the role of Koreans in the WWII as the collaborator of the Japanese empire, and the irony that koreans are barking the loudest against the rising sun flag of Japan as if they suffered from the Japanese military when in reality they were invading China along with their Japanese masters and committing war crimes there.

if you want to refute me at least try to argue based on facts not based on your wmotion. @EDFANTASY11

I was saying that Koreans were not in the same situation as the Jews. Why is this comment stupid? Explain to me based on FACTS not your emotions!

Did Japan try to exterminate Koreans from earth like the germans tried to do with the Jewish people?

The answer is "No". If you don't agree with this, you should present a fact supporting your argument.

Whether you like or not, Korea was the right arm of the Japanese empire. Many Korean soldiers in the Japanese imperial army comitted war crimes in China and tortured British POWs. It is a well known fact. That's why there were many Koreans who were executed as war criminals after the end of WWII, and they are enshrined in the Yasukuni shrine. So stop behaving as victims and face the reality. Korea was the Austria of asia, the collaborator of the Japanese Empire.

@nemurenaijin Will you say the same thing to Jews when they asked to stop hanging or using Nazi's SWASTIKA signs on anything?

There is no way that Koreans were in the same situation as the Jews. Korea was part of Japan and Koreans were treated as Japanese citizens. There was no plan to exterminate Koreans, like Germany did with the Jewish people. The Korean population doubled under the Japanese rule. In addition many Koreans volunteerd in the Japanese military. Some of them were even executed as war-criminals. So stop victimizing yourself and face the fact. Koreans were more comparable with Austrians who were seen as collaborators of Nazi Germany, and with the Italians for being side-switchers.

On top of that this flag has nothing to do with Korea, as Korea was not in war with Japan.

And why did Koreans start this negative campeign against the rising sun flag so recently? Don't you find this odd?

To Mitch,

There are many countries that have been invaded for centuries, but they don't behave like Koreans. In addition, China has invaded Korea countless times. Do not also forget that China is the main reason of the division of Korean peninsula. Why don't Koreans critisize China and ask for apology and compensation? Is that because Korea, which was a tributary state of China for 1000 years, regards China as their master? Anyway, crying over and exagerating something that happened long time ago is pathetic. And let's not change the subject which is about a Korean student living in France forcing a French department store to remove the Japanese naval ensign, something that has nothing to do with Korea as Korea was not in war with Japan, due to her ignorance and brainwash that she received from her country's media.

As long as the Koreans can't overcome their inferiority complex against Japan and keep brainwashing their innocent children to hate Japan, the relation between the two nations will not improve. Koreans should learn from Taiwanese, who had the same experience of being annexed by Japan, yet they don't hold grudge or teach their kids to hate Japan. Unlike the Koreans who always distorts the history and exagerate the negative side and hide positive side of the Japanese era, Taiwanese have an objective view and observation of that time. They teach both positive side and negative side of the Japanese policies when it was part of Japan.

First of all, the rising sun flag was adopted as the Japanese naval ensign in the late 19th century, way before WWII. Traditionally this flag has a positive meaning in Japan. For example for fishers, this flag represents good catch., That"s why they use this flag when when they go for fishing. Comparing this flag with NAzi Swastika is ridiculous as the Swastika was adopted by the Nazi part and it does not represents or symbolizes Germany. In fact the Germans keep using the iron cross, which was also used during WWII, as this symbole was adopted by the Germans way before WWII and it is not associated with Nazi. If this flag should be banned because of the imperial history of Japan, then the flags of all of the countries which invaded or colonized other countries at some point of their history (Such as UK, France, US etc) should also be banned. Maybe the Koreans can show us an example to emulate by banning their own flag which can represent the horrible crimes that they committed in Vietnam during the Vietnam world?

Secondly, Koreans are the last people who can critisize this flag, as they have nothing to do with WWII. Korea was already annexed to Japan in 1910, and they were Japanese citizens since then. Many Korean men volunteered in the Japanese military during WWII fighting against the Americans, Chinese etc. Some of them were even executed as war criminals after the end of the war. The only role that they played during WWII is that of accomplice of Japan. It is odd that while the Americans, British, Philipinos and the Chinese who suffered a great loss by the Japanese military (Ok, I know that Chinese people can find this flag offensive, but at least they don't try to go abroad to lecture other people about this flag), Koreans who have nothing to do with this flag are barking the loudest.

In addition, it is ironic that the Koreans just started crying over this flag recently. It looks like the Koreans always try to find something to bitch about Japan. First, it was the name of "Sea of Japan", and now it is the rising sun flag.

Again, Koreans acting as victims. It looks like the Koreans are in desperatae need of critisizing Japan. They use whatever as an excuse to complain and whine against Japan. It must be their insecurity and inferiority complex that act as a driving force to make them do so. And it is funny to see how they like to victimize themselves when in the reality they have nothing to do with WWII. If they had a role in WWII, the only role that played in WWII was that of collaborators of the Japanese in invading China and committing war crimes as well as mistreating the British and American POWs.

If China is critisizing, then it means that Japanese voters did the right thing.

So China is saying "We will intrude your airspace, water, and will try to steal Senkaku and probably Okinawa in the future, but you must not retaliate or defend your territory". What an arrogant spoilt country!

To Pukey

What makes you think that LDP is a fascist andwill limit the freedom of expression?

I just don't understand those who think that there will be war when Japan change the constitution. Could you give a detailed explanation backing such prediction? The Article 9 does not allow the possesion of military force. As far as I know most of the countries in the world have military. Are all of these countries warmongers? If they are allowed to posses military, why not Japan? Is Japan threatning to attack or invade other countries? No!! It is China that is threatning Japan. Are you guys that naive to think that China won't do anything if Japan maintains the Article 9? The current govertnment is central-leftist. They are known for being weak against China. Did that fact improve the Sino-Japanese relation during the last three years? No!! China took advantage of that and they started intruding both the water and the airspace of Senkaku. That's why Japan should take a strong position when dealing with China. The Chinese are historically known for considering kindness as weaknes, and play rough with weak countries, while they compromise when dealing with strong countries. That's why I think Japan should play tough with China, and this Article 9 is a major weakness for Japan in terms of diplomacy with China. If you don't like this movement of changing the constitution, please take your complaints to China.

Of course!,when you have a country like China at your doorstep threatening you and trying to steel your land knowing that you cannot do much because of this Article 9. If Japan was surrounded by peaceful nations, this may not be necessary, but unfortunately the reality is different.

Thank you China for waking us up. You are getting us to realize that we don't live in a Utopia and this Article 9 is bringing us more damage than peace, as you are trying to do whatever you want knowing that Japan cannot do many things due to this Artcile 9. Now there are more an more Japanese who are in favor of changing the constitution and re-militarizing Japan, which resulted in the victory of LDP.

Those who are critisizing Abe as warmonger for trying to change the Article 9 and rearm Japan, I bet you come from countries that don't have military force such as Costa Rica. At least he is not threatening to use that military force to attack other countries or take other countries' lands by force unlike what China is doing. He wants Japan to have a sufficient military force to be able to protect itself like most countries. There are more and more Japanese who are in favor of rearmed Japan as we are realizing that we do not live in a utopia where everyone lives in peace and respects each other. We have China at our doorstep trying to take our islands for god sake. Ironically it is China that is making us realize that the Article 9 is not doing any favor and it is encouraging China to do whatever she wants like a bully. So if you are not happy with rearmed Japan, take your complaints to China.

China is totally lying! Senkaku islands were already incorporated into Japan as terra nulius, a few months before the treaty of Shimonoseki in which China ceded Taiwan. So the Senkakus has nothing to do with this treaty, nor with the first Sino-Japanese war.

Forgot to add one thing. When these islands were under US administration, the US used these islands as a training field for their marines. If China really thought that those islands were Chinese, why didn't they asked the US military to stop landing in these islands? Imagine if a foreign military land in your territory without your consent, it is invasion. Yet China didn't bother. Why?