Japanese Dokdo claims and South Korean governmental reactions are about as predictable as Korean four seasons:
South Korea on Monday angrily responded to Japan’s provocative territorial claim to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo, with Seoul’s Foreign Ministry announcing the recall of its ambassador to Tokyo in protest.
Japan’s Education Ministry earlier on Monday released an educational document that describes the South Korean islets in the East Sea as part of Japanese territory, though Dokdo has historically been controlled by South Korea.
The Japanese announcement immediately stirred a wave of resentment across South Korea, as President Lee Myung-bak, political leaders and civic activists called for stern counteractions to thwart Japan’s attempt to lay claim to Dokdo.
President Lee lost no time in expressing “deep disappointment” with Japan and instructing his government to “sternly and strictly” react to Japan’s fresh territorial claim to Dokdo. [Yonhap]
I have to think that President Lee Myung-bak is probably mentally thanking Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for this latest Dokdo dispute. This latest dispute allows Lee to play to Korean nationalism like the leftists groups have been doing over the US beef issue in order to allow Lee to rebuild his political standing in the country. There is no better way to build your political standing in Korea then to bash Japan.
Popularity: 2%
12:33 am on July 16th, 2008 1
I agree that LMB is grateful for the nationalist card over Tokdo coming up like it did, but I also think he knows that he doesn’t want to play it too strongly — like the muck-racking tactics of Roh Moo-hyun. He’ll try to play it at a diplomatic level — while trying to appear to be the staunch defender of Korean territory.
He’s got a lot of pokers in the fire which aim at getting closer to the Japanese both economically and militarily. He doesn’t want to get too deep into the nationalistic b.s. like how Roh stirred up the masses to hysterical heights including finger chopping. He is only going for the show part with the Science Ministry promising more surveys, KNP waving the flag with more patrol boats, etc. etc. Thus what we’re seeing is the typical eyewash stuff like the GNP and UDP politicians hopping on a helicopter to visit Tokdo. He’s also aware that the progressives are trying to turn this around with rumors that he sold out Korea during the G-8 summit using their favorite misinformation tool — the internet. Thus he has to off-set this by squeezing the portals with threats of clamp-downs to get them to silence these dissidents.
I also think that people are underestimating LMB being “on the ropes” — because such a person would not even think of going after Roh Moo-hyun over illegal transfer of classified materials. All the conservative elements are going after the progressives — and you don’t do this if you’re in a position of weakness.
However, I have to interject my own personal opinion here. This is really a bullshit item. Disregarding the nationalistic b.s. of who “owns” that rock, this is a question of sovereignty — but not over the rock, but over the right of a parent in a sovereign nation to say how his/her child should be educated under the laws of his/her sovereign nation. This deals with the JAPANESE education system for JAPANESE kids by JAPANESE teachers in JAPANESE schools with JAPANESE textbooks — and approved in the end by JAPANESE parents who pay JAPANESE taxes to support the JAPANESE education system. My point is that Korea has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation.
They do this to the Japanese, Chinese — and even the Americans. The Chinese played hardball with them when they tried it with them — and they are still smarting from the last Chinese rewriting of history. The Japanese simple ignore them like pests — except in one community. In America…that’s another story…
The bottomline over this item is that the ROK has a lot of bluff and fury over its historical “proof” but a lot of their “proof” has been countered by the Japanese maps, surveys, documents and histories. Ask Gerry Beavers for his documentation and visit the various Japanese sites. This is why the Koreans are trying to rename the ocean floor around Dokto with Korean names — BUT it has not worked so far because it lacks international support. This is why Koreans make such big noises in the media over their supposed “discoveries” in old European maps — even if some are questionable.
The Koreans truly believe that people have short memories of the events immediately following WWII. However, people still remember how Korea got Dokdo by force, people still remember the Japanese nationalists dying in the mortar attacks, people still remember the history of the island. People hold up the US-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty and point to the Congressional addendum that was put there specifically to cover those rocks whereby if the the ROK gets in a fight over it — it is on its own…the same as the MDL.
The move by Syngman Rhee to grab the islets to justify his “Rhee Line” as a laughable attempt to grab Japanese lands as “reparations” started as a nationalist move. However, it’s changed over the years into one of Exclusive Economic Zones. All this current nationalism b.s. is nothing more than a smokescreen to cover a grab of potential wealth in undersea mineral resources and the rich fishing grounds that surround the islets.
This is a case for the World Courts — but the ROK will NOT go there because its case is weak. Thus all the bluff and bluster of the “Dokdo is Korean Territory.” The Japanese on the other hand DO want to go there — and they wouldn’t do this without feeling that they can win. Thus its attitude is that “I can wait” as long as the EEZ is shared by Korea and Japan.
In a nutshell, this Dokdo perenial hate-fest is getting to be a really irksome event where Koreans make fools of themselves in front of the world. The world doesn’t give a rats about the Korean claim — and even the youth group bicycling through Europe to spread Dokdo awareness gave up and returned to Korea with their tail between their legs. No one gives a damn about this in the international community.
2:18 am on July 16th, 2008 2
Go get ‘em Gerry Bevers! You got the research to support the claims…I think Japan gets them.
3:32 am on July 16th, 2008 3
“…with Seoul’s Foreign Ministry announcing the recall of its ambassador to Tokyo in protest.”
I’m sure that really hurt Japan’s little ol’ feelings!
6:46 am on July 16th, 2008 4
I find it interesting how there is more outrage over a Japanese teaching pamphlet to be released in 2012 then there is over the fact a South Korean citizen was murdered by a North Korean soldier while on a tour trip.
Quite telling on what the priorities are in South Korea.
7:52 am on July 16th, 2008 5
9:59 am on July 16th, 2008 6
GI,
I do not think there is more outrage amongst Korean citizens. It seems that way because the usual suspects are out demonstrating against the Japanese while remaining silent about the shooting. Even the rallies in front of the embassy haven’t been well-attended. I really think after six weeks of demos, the average Cho wants normalcy, and it would take something bigger than a Japanese textbook to get thousands of people back into the streets.
2:47 pm on July 28th, 2008 7
GI, Lee (or, more appropriately, 2MegaByte) is an incompetent fool. I doubt 2MB is thanking Fukuda for the opportunity to play Korean nationalism into his own political popularity with Koreans. If anything, 2MB is resenting Fukuda for thrusting this controversy at this time of his administration.
As for the predictability you note in regards to Koreans vis-à-vis Japan’s claim over Dokdo, nothing insightful about that. In any event, Korea is in possession and control of Dokdo. End of discussion. As for Koreans getting worked up about it, no big deal–I only wish that 2MB would have the backbone to impose the will of Koreans vis-à-vis Japan in regards to Dokdo. But I would be asking for the impossible, as 2MB is a spineless incompetent fool. If 2MB wants to get respect from Japan, North Korea, U.S., and China, he needs to quickly find a target and kick ass–which is unlikely to happen, because he is a spineless incompetent fool. In the realm of international politics, one doesn’t aim to be loved but to be respected. And from my standpoint, that is the mistake 2MB made with respect to the import of U.S. Beef–safety of U.S. beef, as far as I am concerned, is a non-issue, though I can appreciate the safety concern that others may have.
As for Kalani’s remark, nothing remarkable. I will say this, though: Get your history straight. Dokdo has always belonged to Korea. Gerry Beavers doesn’t have the academic training and credential to be taken seriously for the nonsense he writes. As for the content of the Japanese textbook, are you telling me that countries that suffered atrocities at the hand of Japanese military during WWII have no say so in how Japan tells its history? Perhaps German government should rewrite its history during WWII, misrepresenting and minimizing the Nazi atrocities, and Jews everywhere should stay silent, as that would be interfering with the “internal affairs” of Germany. Think before you write.
Final comment: GI questions the priority of Koreans, referencing his perception that Koreans appear to be more outraged with Japanese textbook than a Korean tourist getting shot by a North Korean. Both events are worthy of outrage. The Japanese textbook, however, deserves more outrage than the other, because the former involves higher stake than the other. I am sure you are smart enough to figure out as to why that is the case.
3:38 pm on July 28th, 2008 8
It almost seems that “kim in the US” is a troll. But yes that is how Koreans think.
9:53 pm on July 28th, 2008 9
Why do non-Koreans are forced to accept Korea’s version of history, which only serves to soothe their nationalistic pride, is beyond me.
12:29 am on July 29th, 2008 10
Good point Squatch, that is why I press for truth. You would not beleve how enraged Koreans get when you show them the truth about Korea.
12:57 am on July 29th, 2008 11
“Korea is in possession and control of Dokdo. End of discussion.”
Think about how that might sound reworded slightly and spoken around 1940:
“Japan is in possession and control of Korea. End of discussion.”
1:22 am on July 29th, 2008 12
Koreans are running around the USA like chickens with their head cut off.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/index.asp
“Some observers pointed out that Korea’s loud condemnation that had followed Japan’s latest decision to fortify its sovereignty claim over Dokdo in its middle school education may have backfired.
“It just showed the world that Dokdo is a matter of dispute, despite the fact that we have effective control over them,” one observer said, wishing to remain anonymous. ”
Damn that made me laugh.. LAUGH!!!
1:24 am on July 29th, 2008 13
Almost a troll? Whatever it means, I am either one or not; and even then, I couldn’t care less. If I were to make a bet, the posters here are non-Koreans who have superficial ties to Korea, her culture and people, and yet claim to have cornered truth about Korea. That is like apple telling orange that apple knows what it is to be orange. Yes, they are both fruits but apple is not orange.
As I said in the previous post, in the realm of international politics there are no forever friends and foes–there are ever shifting allies in the pursuit of their respective national interests. The strategies to securing national interest can be through conflict or consensus. 2MB and other right-wing ideologues think of the U.S. as a forever friend to Korea. They are mistaken. North Korean gov’t, the brutality of their regime aside, know that, and it is able to play the U.S. and China hands for the continued existence of its regime–which the U.S. apparently has no problem (and that should tell you something). 2MB and his cronies are not even competent to do that, though they are very successful pissing off the very people who elected 2MB. Korean voters should have seen the spinelessness and incompetence of 2MB miles away when they saw the character deficiencies of 2MB.
1:48 am on July 29th, 2008 14
“If I were to make a bet, the posters here are non-Koreans who have superficial ties to Korea, her culture and people…”
Hmm, playing the nationalist card, eh?
Well, you certainly can’t be called predictable!
2:36 am on July 29th, 2008 15
Baeksu: You confirmed that my bet was right. In addition, you missed the point. Let me give you a hint: Apple . . . Orange. Finally, you are right about my being unpredictable: If I am going to be nationalistic, it would be with a reference to “stars and stripes.” It is unfortunate that as a result of Dokdo issue, Koreans are going to be unduly anti-U.S. By the way, nothing wrong with nationalism; the problem is with the uninformed and mistaken nationalism.
As for your previous hypothetical: so what’s your point?
OK, enough exchanges with juveniles.
2:10 pm on July 30th, 2008 16
hmmm…. “However, I have to interject my own personal opinion here. This is really a bullshit item. Disregarding the nationalistic b.s. of who “owns” that rock, this is a question of sovereignty — but not over the rock, but over the right of a parent in a sovereign nation to say how his/her child should be educated under the laws of his/her sovereign nation. This deals with the JAPANESE education system for JAPANESE kids by JAPANESE teachers in JAPANESE schools with JAPANESE textbooks — and approved in the end by JAPANESE parents who pay JAPANESE taxes to support the JAPANESE education system. My point is that Korea has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation”
so… if we go back to WWII, and lets not forget how horrendous japanese war crimes were…? im pretty sure they dont teach that in japan.. am i correct ? during their imperialistic rule.. japan made some heavy changes in korean history… its not to say for the least that they may have changed their own history as well to make it seem as this “islet” that these two countries were fighting for as theirs.. just because it is under their law, doesnt mean its right… i could swear to u that if they changed their history to say that they never attacked pearl harbor…. we will have a huge uproar in the states as well. the only reason for why i see this happening is because japan has a bigger influence on USA than korea, and possibly for recent reasons of korea’s ban on US beef may have caused some problems with american political ties… isnt the timing just so convinient ?
3:14 am on August 24th, 2008 17
[...] Some out there think this is a godsend to Lee, to take the heat off him for a while. I think this is deeply mistaken: nationalists will be hating Japan, but I don’t think that’ll make them hate Lee any less. After all, Lee was the one who only a few months ago urged Koreans to “let go of the past” and move on so a better, more mature relationship with Japan would be possible. To many, the timing might not seem so accidental… I’ve heard some people draw a direct line between the two events, so it’s quite possible this will just lower Lee’s approval rating even further. Yet more, since he’s gone off on holiday now, in the middle of what lots of Koreans seem to consider a “crisis” with a South Korean shot dead in North Korea, and Japanese textbooks yet again in the news. (Yes, a short holiday by our standards, but not by those of the average Korean worker — it’s almost as long as the average worker’s yearly allotment of days off, and Lee did after all make a no-holiday pledge.) [...]