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South Korean President Moon Jae-in and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan shake hands in Chengdu, China, on Dec. 24, 2019. (Blue House photographers’ pool)

I often perceive an “ue kara mesen,” or condescending attitude, in the Japanese media’s coverage on Korea. “Ue kara mesen” is the pose adopted by someone of superior talent or moral status when talking down to their inferiors.

Japanese newspapers print articles describing Korea as “a country that’s always swayed by emotions,” “a country that doesn’t keep its promises,” and “a country that relies on anti-Japanese sentiment to prop up approval ratings.” Then after a while, editorials will appear counseling the two countries to make a diplomatic effort to repair their relations.

It’s not too hard to find examples of this. The Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s leading liberal newspaper, ran an editorial on Thursday calling on Korea and Japan to “sit down together, even for a brief time, to find the energy for a breakthrough” during the G7 summit, which was held in Cornwall, England. On Wednesday, the Mainichi Shimbun, Japan’s best-known conservative paper, advised South Korean President Moon Jae-in that “it’s important to deal responsibly with matters concerning our bilateral relationship.”

There have evidently been considerable changes in the Moon administration’s attitude toward Japan since the sharp dispute that occurred in 2018 and 2019. In particular, Moon has made strenuous diplomatic efforts to improve relations following Yoshihide Suga’s election as prime minister in September 2020.

In November 2020, Moon sent Park Jie-won, director of the National Intelligence Service, to Tokyo to propose that the Tokyo Olympics be made a “Peace Olympics.”

During his New Year’s press conference in January, Moon personally said it “wouldn’t be desirable” for South Korean courts to liquidate assets they’ve seized from Japanese companies.

During a speech on the anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, Moon once again called for reconciliation, emphasizing that the two sides should put themselves in each other’s shoes. “We’re always ready to sit down for dialogue with the Japanese government,” he said.

When Japan didn’t change its attitude, diplomats from the two sides reached a preliminary agreement to hold a brief meeting between Moon and Suga on Saturday. Moon wanted to send the message that he would attend the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23, to create an opportunity for breaking through the impasse between the two countries.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Monday that the brief meeting didn’t take place because of time constraints, but that was just an excuse.

According to the Tuesday edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun, an unnamed official in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Japanese had told the South Koreans that “tachi-banashi” (a standing chat) was possible and confirmed that the Japanese had drawn up guidelines for how Suga should respond to the topic of the comfort women if it came up.

Suga himself acknowledged that Moon approached him twice for conversation. Considering that Suga waited by the phone until 12:47 in the morning for his first phone call with US President Joe Biden, I suspect that what was lacking this time around was not time but sincerity.

Given their painful memories of 35 years of Japanese occupation, Koreans are extremely touchy about the smallest slight from the Japanese. After news broke that Dokdo (a South Korean island also claimed by Japan) was faintly displayed on a map on the website of the Tokyo Olympics, the ruling party’s leading contenders for the next presidential race called for a boycott of the Olympics.

I wish the Japanese would recognize the nerve it took for Moon to approach Suga in the face of those extreme opinions.

When Kato was asked Tuesday about a report in the Yomiuri Shimbun claiming that South Korea and Japan were deliberating the idea of Moon visiting Japan, he said the report wasn’t accurate. What does Japan hope to gain from such a denial?

One could just as easily say that Japan is “a country that’s always swayed by emotions,” “a country that doesn’t keep its promises” — in the Kono Statement, Japan promised to remember the comfort women issue and teach future generations about it — and “a country that relies on anti-Korean sentiment to prop up approval ratings.” Koreans are really doing their best not to regard their closest neighbor with that kind of scornful gaze.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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