hankyoreh

President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers an address on the 104th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement on March 1 at Yu Gwan-sun Memorial Hall in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)

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“No friends but the mountains” is a Kurdish proverb. Despite being the fourth most populous group in the Middle East, with just under 30 million people, the Kurds are the world’s largest group of stateless people and are scattered from southeastern Türkiye across Armenia, Iraq, and Iran.

Their efforts to create an independent state have been thwarted by obstacles and betrayal of neighboring powers. In this century, they expected support for their independence from the US, as the Kurds were more active in defeating the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) on the US’ behalf, but then-President Donald Trump turned a blind eye to Türkiye’s attacks on the autonomous Kurds in northeastern Syria. They were betrayed. These people who cannot trust any country, as they say, have “no friends but the mountains.”

But the Kurds are not the only ones who can relate. Simply add the modifier “eternal” in front of “friend,” and all citizens of every country will nod in agreement when they hear the saying. To survive and flourish in the face of expanding external forces, nations must, when necessary, become allies with yesterday’s enemies and turn their backs on their friends. Cooperation between nations is never a given.

During the Imjin War, the Ming dynasty in China sent a large army to Korea’s predecessor Joseon for their own national security. When Ming faced financial troubles after the war, it extorted massive sums of silver from Joseon, which did not even mine silver at the time. This is just one of many examples, which are as numerous as there are grains of sand on a beach.

Our recent predicament is quite similar. China, now the world’s second-largest economy, is building up its military and racing toward regional hegemony. Japan, already a military power, is building up its military capabilities with the support and cooperation of the US. North Korea has ramped up its nuclear threats after negotiations with the US ended with disappointing results. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a reminder that a crisis over Taiwan is a possibility that may as well happen in the nearer future.

The Korean Peninsula, with its constant US military presence and the ongoing confrontation between the North and South, is not outside that influence. Our most pressing challenge is to contain China’s use of force. We need to cooperate with Japan to do so. Of course, Japan is in the same situation.

On Wednesday, President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that “the trilateral cooperation among the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan has become more important than ever to overcome the security crises including North Korea’s growing nuclear threats and global polycrisis.” He ended the speech by saying, “Let us inherit the spirit of the Proclamation of Korean Independence and build a free, peaceful, and prospering future.” However, no matter how many times I re-read the speech, I can’t quite connect the dots.

I tried looking at the key sentences. The president stated that the March 1 Independence Movement in 1919 was “a movement to build a free, democratic nation where the people are the rightful owners.” Then, he suddenly went on to say, “We must look back to that time when we lost our national sovereignty; the time when our people suffered because we failed to properly prepare for a changing world.”

A little after that, he says, “Japan has transformed from a militaristic aggressor of the past into a partner that shares the same universal values with us. Today Korea and Japan cooperate on issues of security and economy. We also work together to cope with global challenges.” With a logic that seemed to fly all over the place, the speech’s main point seemed to be “Let’s do our best on trilateral cooperation between Japan, South Korea, and the US.”

I believe that the president made seriously inappropriate remarks — and not because he said that we should “cooperate with Japan.” What does March 1 signify for Korea? According to the records of the Japanese Governor-General of Chosen, more than 1 million people participated in this movement, and 553 people were killed by Japan’s suppression of the rally. According to freedom fighter Park Eun-sik’s records, 7,509 people died. A provisional government was established on top of these sacrifices.

On the day that Korea should commemorate the inspiring movement that swapped out the “Japanese colonial era” by inaugurating the “provisional government era,” the president said that we should “reflect on the time we lost our national sovereignty because we failed to prepare for a changing world.” By emphasizing “cooperation with Japan,” the president purposely filled the gap that should’ve been devoted to addressing the unresolved historical issues between South Korea and Japan. He should have refrained from saying that on March 1, of all days.

Relations between Japan and South Korea have been fraught for quite some time over the issues of compensation for victims of the “comfort women” system and forced labor mobilization. There is no doubt that the situation is not beneficial to either country, but we cannot resolve conflicts or build a proper cooperating relationship by merely giving in to Japan. The president’s words made it sound as if he wanted South Korea to meekly give in to all of Japan’s wishes.

We have the sixth-largest military in the world and the 10th-largest gross domestic product. We are miles apart from the situation we were in many decades ago. On a day in which we honor the spirit and the sacrifice of those who faced guns and swords to save our country, the president deeply wounded our national pride.

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