Pres. Park directing government to refrain from criticizing Japan

Posted on : 2016-04-04 16:10 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Despite terms, high-ranking Japanese officials have made provocative comments on comfort women agreement
President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe take a commemorative photo before their summit at the Blue House in Seoul
President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe take a commemorative photo before their summit at the Blue House in Seoul

Reports in the Japanese media suggest that the South Korean government‘s decision not to criticize Japan since the two governments’ reached an agreement on the comfort women issue on Dec. 28, 2015 is the result of instructions given by President Park Geun-hye. Regardless of the veracity of these reports, it is true that the South Korean government has been holding back on criticism of Japanese behavior that violates the spirit of the agreement.

In an Apr. 2 roundup of the summit between South Korea and Japan that was held in Washington, D.C., on Mar. 31, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun quoted an unnamed source as saying that “President Park instructed related departments to avoid criticizing Japan on the comfort women issue after the Dec. 28 agreement with Japan.” The newspaper did not specify which government the source belonged to.

This story was also covered by the Mainichi Shimbun, another Japanese newspaper. Since the Dec. 28 agreement, the paper said, “South Korea has been attempting to suppress criticism of Japan. Senior officials in Japan’s Foreign Ministry believe that President Park is making clear that she means to keep the agreement with Japan.”

As part of the Dec. 28 agreement, South Korea and Japan agreed to “refrain from mutual criticism on this issue on the international stage, including the UN.” But this past February, Japan resumed the public relations war by dispatching Deputy Foreign Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama - the number three man in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - to the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Sugiyama told the committee that “the comfort women were not sex slaves” and that Tokyo had been “unable to find any evidence of their forcible recruitment.”

Citing this as an example, the Yomiuri Shimbun explained that, despite such behavior by Japan, “the South Korean government has refrained from any strong criticism against Japan and has remained committed to abiding by the agreement.”

Without exception, Japanese newspapers reported that, during the summit between South Korea and Japan that was held in Washington, D.C., the leaders of the two countries only reconfirmed their commitment to implementing the agreement without discussing any of the specifics, such as establishing a foundation or removing the statue of a young woman symbolizing the comfort women in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

Referring to the issue of removing the statue, something that Japan wants, the Asahi Shimbun reported that “no specific progress had been made on the comfort women issue.” The newspaper went on to quote a source involved in Japan-South Korea relations as attributing the lack of progress to Japan and suggesting that Japanese politicians should stop making gaffes that disturb South Korean public opinion and prevent Seoul from moving forward with implementing the comfort women agreement.

Throughout the Japanese media there are signs of a concerted effort to move public opinion toward implementing the comfort women agreement.

By Gil Yun-hyung, Tokyo correspondent

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

 

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