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Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea

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Contemporary issues

Generally modern North Korea-based anti-Japanese sentiment is understood to be largely fueled by propaganda from the government, thus attempts to measure it among ordinary people is impossible given the country's political system. The following statements thus apply to South Korea only.

According to Robert E. Kelly, a professor at Pusan National University, anti-Japanese racism in South Korea stems not just from Imperial Japanese atrocities during the colonial era, but from the Korean Peninsula's division. As most Koreans, north and south are racial nationalists, most South Koreans feel a kinship and racial solidarity with North Korea as a result. Due to this perceived racial kinship, it is considered bad form for a South Korean to hate North Korea, to run the risk of being called a race traitor. As a result, Kelly says, South Koreans take out the anger rising from Korean division against Japan. This view is supported by another professor, Brian Reynolds Myers of Dongseo University.

Japanese textbook revisionism

Main article: Japanese history textbook controversies

Anti-Japanese sentiment is also due to the Japanese government's textbook revisionism. On June 26, 1982, the textbook screening process in Japan came under scrutiny when the media of Japan and its neighboring countries gave extensive coverage to changes required by the Minister of Education. Experts from the ministry sought to soften textbook references to Japanese aggression before and during World War II. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937, for example, was modified to "advance". Passages describing the fall of Nanking justified the Japanese atrocities by describing the acts as a result of Chinese provocations. Pressure from China successfully led the Ministry of Education to adopt a new authorization criterion - the "Neighboring Country Clause" (近隣諸国条項) - stating: "textbooks ought to show understanding and seek international harmony in their treatment of modern and contemporary historical events involving neighboring Asian countries."

In 2006, Japanese textbooks stated that the Liancourt Rocks is Japanese territory. This island is disputed territory claimed by both Japan and South Korea. The head of the South Korean Ministry of Education, Kim Shinil, sent a letter of protest to Bunmei Ibuki, the Minister of Education, on May 9, 2007. In a speech marking the 88th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun called for Japan to correct their school textbooks on controversial topics ranging from "inhumane rape of comfort women" to "the Korean ownership of the Liancourt Rocks".

Effects of sentiments

Society

A 2000 CNN ASIANOW article described popularity of Japanese culture among younger South Koreans as "unsettling" for older South Koreans who remember the occupation by the Japanese.

In South Korea, collaborators to the Japanese occupation government, called chinilpa (친일파), are generally recognized as national traitors. The South Korean National Assembly passed the special law to redeem pro-Japanese collaborators' property on December 8, 2005, and the law was enacted on December 29, 2005. In 2006, the National Assembly of South Korea formed a Committee for the Inspection of Property of Japan Collaborators. The aim was to reclaim property inappropriately gained by cooperation with the Japanese government during colonialization. The project was expected to satisfy Koreans' demands that property acquired by collaborators under the Japanese colonial authorities be returned. Under such conditions, one who has pro-Japanese sentiment seems to try to hide it. According to an anonymous survey done by the BBC in March 2010, 64% of South Koreans are actually supportive of Japan.

While some South Koreans expressed hope that former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama would handle Japanese-South Korean relations in a more agreeable fashion than previous conservative administrations, a small group of protesters in Seoul held an anti-Japanese rallying on October 8, 2009, previous to his arrival. The protests called for Japanese apologies for World War II incidents and included destruction of a Japanese flag.

The United States's ambassador to South Korea, Harry B. Harris Jr., who is of Japanese descent, has been criticized in the South Korean media for having a moustache, which his detractors say resembles those of the several leaders of the Empire of Japan. A CNN article written by Joshua Berlinger suggested that given Harris's ancestry, the criticism of his mustache may be due to racism.

National relations

Yasuhiro Nakasone discontinued visits to Yasukuni Shrine due to the People's Republic of China's requests in 1986. However, former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi resumed visits to Yasukuni Shrine on August 13, 2001. He visited the shrine six times as Prime Minister, stating that he was "paying homage to the servicemen who died for defense of Japan." These visits drew strong condemnation and protests from Japan's neighbors, mainly China. As a result, China and South Korea refused to meet with Koizumi, and there were no mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese leaders after October 2001 and between South Korean and Japanese leaders after June 2005. Former President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan.

Education

A large number of anti-Japanese images made by school children from Gyeyang Middle School, many of which depicting acts of violence against Japan, were displayed in Gyulhyeon Station as part of a school art project.

According to a survey conducted by Korean Immigrant Workers Human Rights Center in 2006, 34.1% of the primary school students in the Incheon region answered that "Japanese should be expelled from Korea" the rate was considerably higher compared to Chinese (8.7%), black Africans (8.7%), East Asians (5.0%), black Americans (4.3%), and white Americans (2.3%).

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ Kelly, Robert E. (4 June 2015). "Why South Korea is So Obsessed with Japan". Real Clear Defense.
  2. Myers, Brian Reynolds (27 May 2010). "South Korea's Collective Shrug". The New York Times. New York: The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  3. Myers, Brian Reynolds (14 September 2010). "South Korea: The Unloved Republic?". Archived from the original on May 19, 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  4. Murai Atsushi, "Abolish the Textbook Authorization System", Japan Echo, (Aug. 2001): 28.
  5. "Ed. Minister Protests Distortions in Japanese Textbooks" Archived May 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Chosun Ilbo, May.10,2007.
  6. "Roh Calls on Japan to Respect Historical Truth" Archived March 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Chosun Ilbo, Mar.2,2007.
  7. "Japanese pop culture invades South Korea." CNN.
  8. "Assets of Japan Collaborators to Be Seized", The Korea Times, August 13, 2006.
  9. BBC World Service poll Archived 2013-06-04 at the Wayback Machine, Positive vs. Negative views regarding the influence of various countries.
  10. "SOUTH KOREA: Anti-Japanese rally in Seoul ahead of Japanese prime minister's visit" Archived 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, ITN Source, October 9, 2009.
  11. Berlinger, Joshua (17 January 2020). "Why South Koreans are flipping out over a US ambassador's mustache". CNN. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  12. (in Japanese) "小泉総理インタビュー 平成１８年８月１５日" Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine (Official interview of Koizumi Junichiro on August 15, 2006), Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet, August 15, 2006.
  13. Don Kirk, "Koizumi Move Sparks Anger In China and South Korea" International Herald Tribune, August 14, 2001.
  14. and (in Korean) "노무현 대통령, “고이즈미 일본총리가 신사참배 중단하지 않으면 정상회담도 없을 것” (영문기사 첨부)" Archived May 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Voice of America, 03/17/2006.
  15. "Children's drawings in the subway!, How cute" Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , Jun 13 2005, "More children's drawings displayed in the subway., The second time is just like the first" Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Jun 18 2005, A passing moment in the life of Gord.
  16. (in Korean) "외국인들 “한국인 반일 감정 지나치다”" Archived December 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Daum, 2005-10-1.
  17. James Card "A chronicle of Korea-Japan 'friendship'", Asia Times, Dec 23, 2005, "The most disturbing images of the year were drawings on exhibit at Gyulhyeon Station on the Incheon subway line..."
  18. (in Korean) 초등생에 외국인 선호도 물으니…美·中·동남아·日 순, The Kukmin Daily, 2006.12.13.
  19. (in Korean) 인천지역 초등학생의 외국인 인식실태 및 다문화인권교육 워크샵개최, Korean Immigrant Workers Human Rights Center, 2006-12-12.

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