[Editorial] Japan and the reconciliation of history

Posted on : 2008-05-19 13:17 KST Modified on : 2008-05-19 13:17 KST

President Lee Myung-bak said that he wouldn’t cling to the past so as to make progress in South Korea’s relations with Japan at Seoul-Tokyo summit talks in April. Regarding criticism that Lee disregarded the issue of the reconciliation of history between the two countries in his remarks, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hwan said that because Korea is looking beyond the past in its relations with Japan, Japan could also be expected to be prudent in dealing with the issue of history reconciliation.

Japan’s attitude, however, proves that Korea’s expectations for relations with Japan are too naive. Shortly after Seoul raised an objections to information posted on the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s Internet site in February, which says that the Dokdo islets belong to Japan, Japan’s Education Ministry made new guidelines for middle school textbooks that say the Dokdo islets should be described as Japanese territory. The South Korean Foreign Ministry says that it is trying to confirm whether the information it has about the guidelines, which came from an article in the Yomiuri Shimbun, is correct. Considering Japan’s attitude about the matter until now, however, it is not entirely impossible to believe.

In 2006, when Japan began to openly raise the issue of the Dokdo islets, Japan’s Education Ministry handed down instructions for the middle school textbooks to describe the islets as its territory. Again in 2007, Japanese ministry directed the publishers of high school textbooks to revise a neutral description about the islets in Japan’s favor.

In apparent anticipation of the April 21-22 summit talks with Korea, Japan did not mention Dokdo islets in new, government-issued teaching guidelines for elementary, middle and high schools that were announced on March 28. That seemed like a trick carried out to create a good atmosphere for the summit, because Japan went ahead and included this controversial element in its new guidelines just after the talks were over. But tricks like this damage the foundation of trust between the two countries. In consequence, the world’s second largest economy will not receive a positive evaluation from the international community.

The government teaching guidelines, which are revised every 10 years, are not just guidelines for teachers but are also used for auditing history textbooks. In the long run, the guidelines become the basis for how future generations perceive history and reality. It means that reconciliation of history is not just an issue of the past, but one that affects the present and future. Under these circumstances, will the administration of President Lee Myung-bak continue to maintain that it refuses to take issue with the past? The government should strongly protest against Japan’s unreasonable insistence that the Dokdo islets are part of its territory and take steps to prevent Japan from continuing to make assertions such as these within the international community.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

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