Japan–Korea disputes

Korea (both North and South) and Japan have had disputes on many issues over the years.

The two nations have had a complex history of cultural exchange, trade, and war which underlies relations today. In the ancient era, many cultural developments were transmitted by immigrants from Korea to Japan. Later, Korea was also influenced by trade and diplomacy with Japan. The subsequent Japanese invasions of Korea (Seven-Year War, 1592–1598) and the 1910–1945 annexation, however, have scarred relations since.

Today, South Korea and Japan are major trading partners and many students, tourists, entertainers, and businesspeople travel between the two countries. North Korea, however, has little political or economic relations with Japan.

The following unresolved issues continue to make headlines regularly, and issues arising from Japan's militant past also often involve China and other Asian countries. The respective governments are also often accused of exploiting nationalism for political purposes.

Japanese Occupation of Korea

Main article: Korea under Japanese rule

Beginning with the Treaty of Ganghwa in 1875, Japan began its involvement in domestic Korean politics. By 1895 the Japanese murder Empress Myeongseong of Korea under Miura Goro's directive (Kim et al. 1976). which later culminated to the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty in 1910 (which some argue as void and illegal since the treaty was not signed by the Korean Emperor but by a Japanese puppet-government).[1] Followining their independence from Imperial Japan, both North and South Korea have demanded official apologies for what they viewed as a harsh and unjustified occupation of the Korean Peninsula. Although some liberal Japanese cabinets have since provided with "aplogies" many Koreans view these as being merely insincere lipservice since subsequent japanese Prime Ministers and members of the Japanese Diet have made statements either whitewashing or outright justifying the Japanese occupation, including in recent years none other than the Japanese Ambassador to Seoul.[2]

Proponents of Japanese nationalism, Japanese imperialism and notable nipponophile scholars such as Professor Carter Eckert at Harvard University and Professor Yi (李栄薫) at Seoul National University, have made attempts at justifying the colonial era by citing industrial advances made during that time. Much of this has been discredited in recent years,[3] because overall development of the Korean Peninsula did not start till after the end of the devastating Korean War (1950-1953). Japanese occupation ended in 1945 with surrender the on board the USS Missouri.

Yasukuni Shrine

Main article: Yasukuni Shrine

Visits by Japanese leaders to Yasukuni Shrine, dedicated to those who fought on behalf of imperial Japan, have ignited protests in Korea and China since 1985. In 1978, it was publicized that 14 convicted Class-A war criminals and about 1,000 others convicted for war crimes during World War II were enshrined. Though Japanese emperors have not visited the shrine since, three Japanese leaders have paid their respects there. Additionally, Mr. Lee Gu (son of Prince Lee Eun who was a royal prince of the Korean empire) has been seen at Yasukuni. Japan's 89th prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has visited five times since taking office in 2001. Koizumi has responded to criticisms regarding his visits by stating that his visits to the shrine are to pray for peace and honor the dead, not to glorify militarism.

Japan's newly elected and 90th prime minister, Shinzo Abe's plans visit Bejing is the first high-level exchange between China and Japan since 2001. Former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine chilled relations between the two countries.

Comfort Women

Main article: Comfort women

The Korean governments have demanded compensation for women who were forced to work in military brothels during World War II for Japanese imperial soldiers. As the few surviving comfort women continue to struggle for acknowledgment and apology, the Japanese court system rejected such claims on the ground of the statute of limitation. However, the Japanese government arranged some monetary compensation by private funds, not through official channels. These funds have been rejected due to their unofficial nature, which most comfort women regard as insincere. Some Japanese claim that the comfort women were not forced into prostitution and deny coercive military involvement.

History Textbooks

Main article: Japanese history textbook controversies

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) reviews the content of school history textbooks available for selection by schools in Japan. Foreign scholars, as well as many Japanese historians, have criticized the political slant and factual errors of some textbooks that have been approved. After the revisionist Tsukurukai's textbook passed inspection in April 2001, South Korea demanded the revision of 25 parts of the textbook, to no avail. This aroused resentment among supporters of the book who felt that Korea was interfering in Japanese domestic affairs. So far, Tsukurukai's textbook has been adopted by less than 0.1% of the schools, but has become a bestseller in the general book market, and have caused other textbooks to shift to the right, for example, by omitting reference to Comfort women. But it should be noted that there are many Japanese teacher unions against the textbook.

In both North and South Korea, only one series of history textbooks each, which is published by the government, are allowed for use in schools. Some right-wing, conservative Japanese scholars claim that these textbooks use biased information in criticizing Japan and the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Compensation

Main article: Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea

Twenty years after the end of World War II, Japan and South Korea re-established diplomatic relations by signing the Treaty on Basic Relations in 1965. In 2005, South Korea disclosed diplomatic documents that detailed the proceedings of the treaty. The documents, kept secret for 40 years, revealed that Japan provided 500 million dollars in soft loans and 300 million in grants to South Korea as compensation for its 1910-45 occupation, and that South Korea agreed to demand no further compensations, either at the government to government level or individual to government level, after the treaty. It has also been revealed that the South Korean government assumed the responsibility for compensating individuals on a lump sum basis while rejecting Japan's proposal for direct compensation. However, the South Korean government used most of the loans for economic development and have failed to provide adequate compensation to victims, paying only 300,000 won per death, a total of 2,570 million won only to the relatives of 8,552 victims who died in forced labor. As the result, the Korean victims are preparing to file a compensation suit against the South Korean government as of 2005.

It should be noted that the treaty does not preclude individual suits against Japanese individuals or corporations but such suits are often constrained by the statute of limitation. The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000 on Japan Military Sexual Slavery, a mock trial organised by NGOs, issued a ruling that "states cannot agree by treaty to waive the liability of another state for crimes against humanity."

Apology

Main article: List of war apology statements issued by Japan

Japan's prime ministers have issued official apologies several times, including Prime Minister Obuchi in the Japan-Republic of Korea Joint Declaration of 1998, and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the Japan-DPRK Pyongyang Declaration of 2002. Koizumi said "I once again express my feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology, and also express the feelings of mourning for all victims, both at home and abroad, in the war." While Koreans welcomed the earlier apologies, many Koreans now view the repeated statements as insincere, because of continuing actions of Japanese officials on the other issues listed here. In one example, hundreds of Japanese politicians made a tributory visit to the Yasukuni Shrine at the exact same time as an apology from Koizumi was taking place. These conflicts in action versus words have caused many to distrust Japanese statements of apology. In addition, almost all politicians who apologized at official international forums would later retract or contradict their apologies at home in Japan causing confusion internationally. Most apologies are seen as vague statements of regret or sadness for a tragic past which fail to indicate specifics.

Geographic disputes

Dokdo/Takeshima

Main article: Dokdo

Although currently under South Korean control, these islets are also claimed by Japan. The islets are called "Dokdo" in Korean and "Takeshima" in Japanese. There are valuable fishing grounds around the islets and reserves of natural gas have recently been found.

Koreans claim that the islets were historically Korean with earliest Korean records dating back to 512 under the Silla Kingdom. Furthermore, it is argued that as recently as 1900, Korea exercised sovereignty over the islands by incorporating Dokdo into Ulleung county. Japan claims the 1900 incorporation was over different island now called Kwaneum-do in Korean.

The harbinger of Japanese claims is the incorporation of the islets into Shimane Prefecture in 1905 under the doctrine of terra nullius. Koreans reject this claim, however, by pointing out that the Japanese claim over the islets was the first of its eventual claim over the rest of Korea. Korea was forced to become a protectorate of Japan in 1905 after King Kojong was forced to abdicate his throne

In January 1952, South Korea's Syngman Rhee line declaration included Dokdo as Korean territory. Since September 1954, Japan has kept proposing to submit this problem to the International Court of Justice but South Korea has been rejecting the proposal or even to acknowledge the dispute. North Korea supports the South Korean claim.

Tsushima/Daemado

Main article: Tsushima Island

Although Japanese-controlled currently, this island is claimed to be Korean by some Koreans, but not by the South Korean government. Called "Tsushima" in Japanese and "Daemado" in Korean, it was Korean-controlled briefly during the Joseon Dynasty, and possibly during the Silla era.

In 2005, when Japan's Shimane Prefecture announced Takeshima Day claiming Dokdo as part of its jurisdiction, Korea's Masan city council proclaimed Daemado Day and declared it Korean territory.

Sea of Japan/East Sea

Main article: Sea of Japan naming dispute

Both North and South Korea insist that Japan unfairly promoted the standardization of the name "Sea of Japan" while Korea effectively lost control over its foreign policy under Japanese imperial expansion. South Korea argues that the name "East Sea", one of the most common names found on ancient European maps of this sea, should be the official name instead of, or at least concurrently with, "Sea of Japan". Japan claims that Western countries named it the "Sea of Japan" prior to 1860, before Japan's influence over Korean foreign policy grew after the outbreak of First Sino-Japanese War in 1894.

Other issues

Ban on Japanese Culture

After liberation from Japanese occupation, both North and South Korea banned Japanese cultural products such as music, film, and books. Starting in 1998, however, most of these bans have been gradually lifted in South Korea. Some Japanese cultural items such as manga, anime and music were introduced to South Korea even while they were banned. (the Korean audience was not informed that they were from Japan.) While some younger South Koreans have embraced Japanese culture, older South Koreans have not been so eager to do so.

Return of Korean laborers' remains from Japan

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, Japan used hundreds of thousands of forced laborers from Korea who eventually died in Japan. South Korea has asked Japan for help in finding the dead bodies of these kidnapped laborers for proper burials. The Japanese government passed on the responsibilities of finding and identifying these bodies to the corporations that committed the kidnappings. Corporations such as Mitsubishi, Mitsumi and various other entities, stated the culpability should fall on the governments and not on private companies. This has left South Korea in a bind, leading South Korea to only identify a couple of hundred bodies rather than the larger amount they had hoped for. With neither the Japanese government nor the Japanese corporations actively seeking to find and identify the Koreans this dispute will take time before anything is resolved.

Kidnapping of Japanese Citizens

Main article: North Korean abductions of Japanese

The junior high school student　"Megumi Yokota" in Niigata was kidnapped in North Korea on November 15, 1977. Besides her, a lot of Japanese citizens were kidnapped by the agent in North Korea. In 2002, North Korea admitted to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 1980s, to train spies to infiltrate U.S. military installations in Japan. Five have been released, but eight were claimed to have died since. Japan has pressed for the return of the bodies. Many more Japanese citizens are believed to have been kidnapped and held captive in North Korea.

Zainichi Koreans

Main article: Zainichi Korean

Zainichi (在日, Resident Japan) refers to Korean nationals residing in Japan. Most of them are second-, third-, or fourth-generation Koreans who are not Japanese citizens, forced to relocate to or immigrated to Japan during Japan's occupation of Korea, while others later entered Japan in order to escape the Korean War. They lost their Japanese citizenship status after the signing of San Francisco Peace Treaty which officially ended the Japanese annexation of Korea, and their country of origin, Korea, no longer existed when South Korea and North Korea became separate states. Zainichi communities are split based upon affiliation with North or South Korea (Chongryon and Mindan). Many Koreans living in Japan use Japanese names to hide their origin, in order to avoid discriminatory treatment.　They are in conflict with Japanese society as a deputy in North Korea. Moreover, they have a strong influence in the Japanese underground. Many Zainichi are leaders of Boryokudan, specified by the National Police Agency in Japan. [4]

Korea instead of Corea

Main article: Names of Korea

Because of the coexistence of "Corea" and "Korea" in the 19th century English publications, [5] some Koreans believe Japan, around the time of the Japanese occupation, intentionally standardized the spelling on "Korea," so that "Japan" would appear first alphabetically. Both governments used both "Korea" and "Corea" until the early part of the Japanese occupation. [6] [7] [8] "English books and maps published through the 19th century generally spelled the country's name as Corea, as did the British government in laying the cornerstone of its embassy in Seoul in 1890 with the name "Corea." But sometime in the early 20th century, "Korea" began to be seen more frequently than "Corea" - a change that coincided with Japan's consolidation of its grip over the peninsula." Most evidence is circumstantial, including a 1912 memoir by a Japanese colonial official that complained of the Koreans' tendency "to maintain they are an independent country by insisting on using a C to write their country's name." [9]

See also

• Japanese-Korean relations
• Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
• Japan-Republic of Korea Joint Declaration of 1998
• List of war apology statements issued by Japan
• Korean arguments on Yamato period