One Flew Over the Senkaku's Nest - Nationalist maps of Asia

China just tested Japan's nerves by patrolling its newly redefined "East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone"*. 

The "battleships" game between Japan and China around the Senkaku-Diaoyu islands has moved to a new level: the skies. Next step? Space, probably in an episode titled "The Empire Strikes Back".

Of course, China's air defense zone includes Ieodo, a (contested) Korean (submerged) territory we already mentioned, and Seoul is not very happy about that (see "China Claims Buffer Airspace from Korea, Japan" - The Chosun Ilbo 20131125).

Actually, across the region, the Facebook status of most islets - sometimes whole archipelagos - reads "it's complicated". And ultra-nationalists like Shinzo Abe love to fan the flames because they feed upon them. I won't replay all the previous moves of this sick and silly games, but here are a couple of them:

• "France claims the British Isles at the United Nations",
• "Shinzo Abe: an offensive Defense White Paper ahead of the elections... and Constitutional Revolution",
• "Dokdo, Senkaku, Ieodo, Kuril,... Hashima?",
• "Ieodo: I smell a fish"
• ...

And just to help you get it, here are simplified versions of a few nationalist maps of Asia:

Note that Shinzo Abe only claims part of the old Japanese Empire. Even hardcore fascists have soft spots, it seems.

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* see for instance "Chinese pilots patrol controversial air zone over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands" (The Telegraph 2013112)

Shinzo Abe: an offensive Defense White Paper ahead of the elections... and Constitutional Revolution

On July 21, 2013, Shinzo Abe will probably win with his LDP the House of Councillors elections, and move closer to his dreams of revising the Constitution, discarding the peaceful nature of Post-War Japan, and restoring the belligerent nature of Imperial Japan (see "ABE forced to back down a bit. For the moment. Next PR stunt: KIM Jong-un").

The "Defense of Japan 2013" annual white paper issued on July 9 by Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera justifies the first increase in Japan's defense budget in 11 years by depicting East Asia as a region on the brink of war, where everybody's beefing up their military capacities: North Korea's nuclear threats got more serious than ever, "China’s activities in the sea/air area surrounding Japan involve its intrusion into Japan’s territorial waters, its violation of Japan's airspace and even dangerous actions that could cause a contingency situation", "Russia continues to intensify its military activities", and even Southeast Asian countries are forced to modernize their military forces.

Diplomacy is not an option. Obviously, Shinzo Abe is not familiar with that weapon, and his arsenal wish list certainly doesn't include it.

Needless to say, Japan's neighbors didn't like the document. Particularly since the Abe government made sure to pour more oil on the fire by reviving, on the side, tensions around Dokdo, Senkaku, or Kuril islands: the expected anger and outrage will once more be used to prove to the quiet Japanese public that indeed, their neighbors are nothing but hot tempered barbarians.

The Chinese did receive a special treatment. Miscellaneous:

• "In regard to the issues of conflicting interests with its surrounding countries, including Japan, China has attempted to change the status quo by force based on its own assertion which is incompatible with the existing order of international law. The attempts have been criticized as assertive and include risky behavior that could cause contingencies"
• "China has been broadly and rapidly modernizing its military forces, and has been rapidly expanding and intensifying its activities in its surrounding waters and airspace. These moves, together with the lack of transparency in its military affairs and security issues, are a matter of concern for the region and the international community, including Japan"
• "Some of China’s activities in the sea/air area surrounding Japan involve its intrusion into Japan’s territorial waters, its violation of Japan's airspace and even dangerous actions that could cause a contingency situation, which are extremely regrettable. China should accept and stick to the international norms."
• "In the South China Sea, there are territorial disputes between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and China over the Spratly Islands and the Paracel Islands"
• "In FY2012, the number of scrambles exceeded 500 times for the first time in 22 years. The number of scrambles against Chinese aircraft exceeded the number of those against Russian aircraft for the first time"
• ... and what to make of this surreal pearl?: "the environment surrounding the Xi government would not be rosy."

I find quite interesting the map the MOD chose to represent Japan under China's threat. Look at the vast mass of China on the bottom, hardly contained by the thin archipelago barrier and particularly Okinawa, protecting the US territory of Guam in the distance (Korea almost obliterated by the captions). I love this horizontal view, with these solar eruptions of yellow arrows transpiercing poor Japan... whose leaders would probably love to restore the infamous War Flag of Imperial Japan (Rising Sun Flag):



I'm not saying that imperialism doesn't exist in Beijing, just that it's a "first take the log out of your own eye" situation. Anyway, before their next expedition to Senkaku / Diaoyu, the Chinese will have re-read Tokyo's manual of Self-defense (section "Defense of Japan’s Offshore Islands"):

• "If signs of attack are detected in advance, SDF troops will be concentrated in the area expected to be attacked ahead of the deployment of enemy units, thereby trying to deter attacks by the enemy.
• If the enemy shows no sign of refraining from launching an attack, operations will be conducted to prevent it. If no signs of aggression are detected in advance and islands are occupied, operations will be conducted to regain the islands by defeating the enemy with air-to-ground and ship-to-ground firing and by landing GSDF units."

If this white paper looks a bit whiter than the previous edition, that's only because the text is seldom accompanied with illustrations; last year, for instance, the sections "Effective Deterrence and Response" and "Frameworks for Responses to Armed Attack Situations" looked like GI Joe trailers. As if the editors didn't want to pass too clearly for warmongers.

Many sections didn't change, starting with the core principles Abe wants to change along with the Constitution... even if I doubt he'll drop the controversial "boost nationalism" part in the "Basic Policy for National Defense". The document states that "there is no established definition for the term 'military power'", but be assured he has something in mind, something consistent with the "right of belligerency" he's been advocating.

What we'd like to hear is Shinzo Abe be very specific, loud and clear, ubi et orbi, about his vision and his ultimate goals, how he would rewrite the Constitution, redefine the nation, what would be allowed and not allowed for its defense of the nation (NB: for info, I put below* the DoJ 2013 WP's section "The Constitution and the Right of Self-Defense"). But the National Defense Program Guidelines will only be reviewed after the elections, and to get these specifics we'll have to wait until the end of this year.

Well. According to The Asahi Shimbun (BTW speaking of the Rising Sun flag, I wonder when these guys will change their logo), expected changes include the capacity, for Self Defense Forces, "of striking military targets in enemy countries" ("White paper echoes Abe's plans to strengthen Japan’s defense" - Asahi Shimbun 20130710)

Anyway, unlike Toru Hashimoto, Abe always comes short of speaking his mind out. If he never leaves any room for misinterpretations, he knows how to use symbols and circular references when he's venturing into the most outrageous territories (see exhibit A: "Can't top that? Shinzo Abe posing as Shiro Ishii, the Josef Mengele of Imperial Japan").

Yesterday, The Asahi Shimbun also feigned to point out potential sources of misunderstanding (this time in "EDITORIAL: Defense white paper underlines threats, ignores diplomatic efforts" - Asahi Shimbun 20130710):

• "This is precisely the time for Japan to act responsibly and make its policy clearly understood. In that sense, "Defense of Japan 2013" is hardly lucid.
  For instance, it says the government is not allowed to exercise the right to collective self-defense in line with the existing government view. On the other hand, the white paper refers elsewhere to a government advisory panel set up to review interpretations of the Constitution and notes that "the government will first wait for the conclusion of the panel."
  Taken together, the two statements only serve to muddle the government's position. It is hardly in Japan's interest to invite unnecessary suspicion" (...) "The government must not neglect to explain its position clearly at home as well as to the rest of the world."
  NB: as far as explanations are concerned, the DoJ 2013 WP specifies mere propaganda at the local level: "Regional Defense Bureaus hold seminars on defense issues for local residents and give briefings on the defense white papers to local public entities, with an aim of gaining the understanding of defense policies from the general public".

So will the right for peace triumph over the right for belligerency? The Japanese opposition being not very vocal about the issue, the population remains overwhelmingly unaware of the dangers. But one thing is sure: belligerence being defined as an aggressive or warlike disposition or behavior, Shinzo Abe is already there.

And the main question remains: will the people of Japan keep letting Shinzo Abe say and do what he wants, and follow him along this suicidal path?


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* From "Defense of Japan 2013":

Section 2 The Constitution and the Right of Self-Defense 1 The Constitution and the Right of Self-Defense Since the end of World War II, Japan has worked hard to build a peace-loving nation far from the miseries of war. The Japanese people desire lasting peace, and the principle of pacifism is enshrined in the Constitution, of which Article 9 renounces war, the possession of war potential, and the right of belligerency by the state. Nonetheless, since Japan is an independent nation, these provisions do not deny Japan’s inherent right of self-defense as a sovereign state. Since the right of self-defense is not denied, the Government interprets this to mean that the Constitution allows Japan to possess the minimum level of armed force needed to exercise that right. Therefore, the Government, as part of its exclusively national defense-oriented policy under the Constitution, maintains the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) as an armed organization, and continues to keep it equipped and ready for operations. 2 The Government’s View on Article 9 of the Constitution 1 The Permitted Self-Defense Capability Under the Constitution, Japan is permitted to possess the minimum necessary level of self-defense capability. The specific limit may vary with the prevailing international situation, the technologies available, and various other factors, and it is discussed and decided according to annual budgets and other factors by the Diet on behalf of the people. Whether such capability constitutes a “war potential” that is prohibited by Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution must be considered within the context of Japan’s overall military strength. Therefore, whether the SDF should be allowed to possess certain armaments depends on whether such possession would cause its total military strength to exceed the constitutional limit. The possession of armaments deemed to be offensive weapons designed to be used only for the mass destruction of another country, which would, by definition, exceed the minimum necessary level, is not permissible under any circumstances. For example, the SDF is not allowed to possess intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), long-range strategic bombers, or attack aircraft carriers. 2 Requirements for Exercising the Right of Self-Defense The Government interprets Article 9 of the Constitution to mean that armed force can be used to exercise the right of self-defense only when the following three conditions are met: (1) When there is an imminent and illegitimate act of aggression against Japan; (2) When there is no appropriate means to deal with such aggression other than by resorting to the right of self-defense; and (3) When the use of armed force is confined to be the minimum necessary level. 3 Geographic Boundaries within which the Right of Self-Defense may be Exercised The use of the minimum necessary force to defend Japan under the right of self-defense is not necessarily confined to the geographic boundaries of Japanese territory, territorial waters and airspace. However, it is difficult to give a general definition of the actual extent to which it may be used, as this would vary with the situation. Nevertheless, the Government interprets that the Constitution does not permit armed troops to be dispatched to the land, sea, or airspace of other countries with the aim of using force; such overseas deployment of troops would exceed the definition of the minimum necessary level of self-defense. 4 The Right of Collective Self-Defense International law permits a state to have the right of collective self-defense, which is the right to use force to stop an armed attack on a foreign country with which the state has close relations, even if the state itself is not under direct attack. Since Japan is a sovereign state, it naturally has the right of collective self-defense under international law. Nevertheless, the Japanese Government believes that the exercise of the right of collective self-defense exceeds the minimum necessary level of self-defense authorized under Article 9 of the Constitution and is not permissible. 5 The Right of Belligerency Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution prescribes that “the right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.” However, the “right of belligerency” does not mean the right to engage in battle; rather, it is a general term for various rights that a belligerent nation has under international law, including the authority to inflict casualties and damage upon the enemy’s military force and to occupy enemy territory. On the other hand, Japan may of course use the minimum level of force necessary to defend itself. For example, if Japan inflicts casualties and damage upon the enemy’s military force in exercising its right of self-defense, this is conceptually distinguished from the exercise of the right of belligerency, even though those actions do not appear to be different. Occupation of enemy territory, however, would exceed the minimum necessary level of self-defense and is not permissible.

PS: on a more "positive" (?) note, activists from Africa and Asia joined the weekly Wednesday Demonstration demanding justice for victims of sexual slavery under Imperial Japan rule ("Comfort Women"), the extremist Nobuyuki Suzuki was convicted for defaming the Pyeonghwabi statue inaugurated during the rally's thousandth edition (see "One Thousand Wednesdays"), and the Seoul High Court ordered Nippon Steel to compensate victims of forced labor during the occupation, since the company "committed crimes against humanity by mobilizing forced labor for the sake of the war of aggression by the Japanese government".

Teaching Geography - Dokdo Inside

A Yonhap article* almost made me believe for a moment that the CNRS (Centre National de Recherche Scientifique), my country's most prestigious research center, had validated the facts that Japan distorts history and that Dokdo is Korean, but after reading the report the truth is more subtle.


1) About the document and its authors:

The article "Géographies scolaires à l’épreuve du Monde, éléments d’approche comparée des cas sud-coréen et français" ("School geography confronted to the World, elements of comparative approach to the South Korean and French cases") was published in december 2012 in ESO #34, the publication of ESO. Espaces et SOciétés - UMR 6590 is a Unite Mixte de Recherche (a research unit pooling university and CNRS ressources) that focuses on the spatial dimension of societies (coupling architecture, geography and urbanism with sociology, environmental psychology...) - typically seoulvillage-friendly subjects!

The article is signed by Saangkyun YI and Jean-Francois THEMINES for the ESO-Caen, the ESO branch at the Universite de Caen Basse-Normandie, where YI, a research Fellow at the Northeast Asian History Foundation, wrote the thesis that provides the elements for the South Korean case in the article: "Une discipline entre nation et empires : histoire de la géographie scolaire en Corée, 1876-2012" ("An academic discipline between nation and empires: history of school geography in Korea, 1876-2012"). Professor Jean-Francois THEMINES works at the Maison de la Recherche en Sciences Humaines (MRSH - Universite de Caen Basse-Normandie - CNRS), where he contributes to two programs: ESO-Caen and CERSE (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Sciences de l'Education).

Interesting topic, interesting article, and interesting insights (eg the reasons behind the adoption of the US "social studies" system in Korea, or the parallel showing how the Prussian and Japanese models impacted teaching systems following the Franco-Prussian war / Treaty of Ganghwa humiliations of the 1870s). It also confirms how school geography and its iconography can echo evolutions in geopolitics, supranational / global entities or aspirations, the concept of nation...

Now about that Dokdo thing.


2) The truth about Dokdo:

First of all, the Northeast Asian History Foundation - Dokdo connection didn't come as a surprise: this organization aiming at peace in the region by "resolving historical conflicts" has from the start focused on this issue, and even organized essay contests about it. Each time you visit their website (historyfoundation.or.kr), you get this pop-up "10 truths about Dokdo - not known in Japan":

Saangkyun YI doesn't seem to hide his sympathy for the Dokdo cause in his own posts, and I respect that transparency**. I also think that mentioning Dokdo and the way it is treated in Korean geography textbooks is relevant for this article. The question is: is the article fair about the issue?

The answer seems to be positive.

If the words "Takeshima" or even "Liancourt" don't appear anywhere, the Dokdo islets seem properly presented ("considered as hers by South Korea" (...) "but Japan claims their sovereignty"). Note that they are "situated off the Eastern coast of the Korean peninsula", which conveniently skips the "East Sea - Sea of Japan" part of the equation, even if it doesn't leave a clue about the relative position of Japan.

Two sets of iconography are used for the South Korean case: a reproduction of a full page about Dokdo (the titles hammering the usual message "Dokdo is a Korean territory", subtitles are translated in red over the page)...

... and a less verbiose extract about Pyongyang (only images with descriptive titles - translations appear in the caption below):

Furthermore, Pyongyang is only mentioned once in the text compared to half a dozen times for Dokdo. Does it mean that the city is only used as an alibi for an article meant to push the Dokdo agenda? No: this is not an article about Dokdo, but Dokdo illustrates perfectly "a logic of state school iconography" (consistent with the not very "post-national" instructions from the Ministry of Education also quoted here***), compared to the more classic and positive presentation of Pyongyang.

Again, we don't have a full picture of the Pyongyang presentation to compare completely. And if  the South Korean state agenda is exposed, its content is somehow published and translated (along with non-state players, since VANK is also mentioned). We are explained that the discipline was prevented from emerging in Korea under Imperial Japan rule, but we don't see the actual propaganda except for this cover of a Japanese textbook imposed to Koreans in 1944...

schoolbook for 6 to 8th graders - vintage wartime Imperial Japan

But let's not start a hair-splitting contest by decrypting potentially asymetric iconographies in a study of the history of selective iconographies. I was simply showing how difficult it is to manipulate such sensitive topics, and here, the editorial line respects a scientific approach: this article certainly cannot be seen as a promotion of Korean interests, and it doesn't solve the Dokdo conflict either, because that's not the subject.

Where's the problem then?

That Korea was led to beef up its nationalist rethoric, that's a problem.

Revisionist textbooks in Japan, armies of pseudo historians and geographers in China rewriting history and redrawing maps, that's a bigger problem.

Terminating the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Korea, turning school history into a simple option, and allowing creationism in school****, that's not a small problem either.

Time to build a future based on a mutual respect and understanding of the past. Time for a Global Truth and Reconciliation Network*****.


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* "佛학술지에 독도논문.."일제가 지리 왜곡" (Yonhap News 20130320)
** you already know my position (see for instance "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong")
*** note that the case of Dokdo is not the only one: the Ministry also highlights the Kando region in today's China
**** see "State-condoned creationism in Korea? A cold-blooded murder against King Sejong"
***** see "We reject as false the choice between revisionism and nationalism - for a Global Truth and Reconciliation Network"

We reject as false the choice between revisionism and nationalism - for a Global Truth and Reconciliation Network

Interesting roundtable about 'Comfort Women' yesterday at the ASAN Institute*. Q and As were not allowed, but anyway I mostly came to listen, and to see how each player perceived the situation and their own roles. I got the confirmations I expected, but was also glad to hear loud and clear all the major concerns I had regarding the way Korea and Japan are coping with the issue.

From left to right: BAEK Buhm-suk, PARK Gitae, Annabel PARK, YOON Mee-hy James ROTUNDO, Jason KIM*

So where are we standing right now?

For The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, the Japanese government has to perform 7 actions to fully restore the victim's dignity and resolve the crime:
- "acknowledge the war crime
- reveal the truth in its entirety about the crimes of military sexual slavery
- make an official apology
- make legal reparations
- punish those responsible for the war crime
- accurately record the crime in history textbooks
- erect a memorial for the victims of military sexual slavery, and establish a historical museum"

The USA stand for the US House Resolution 121 passed in 2007 with the help of Annabel PARK. Financial reparations may come later, but this is not about money, and money certainly shouldn't be a motive to delay the resolution. It states that "it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of Japan:
(1) should formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery, known to the world as 'comfort women', during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of World War II;
(2) would help to resolve recurring questions about the sincerity and status of prior statements if the Prime Minister of Japan were to make such an apology as a public statement in his official capacity;
(3) should clearly and publicly refute any claims that the sexual enslavement and trafficking of the 'comfort women' for the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces never occurred; and
(4) should educate current and future generations about this horrible crime while following the recommendations of the international community with respect to the 'comfort women'."

Apparently, nothing has changed since the mass protest of last december (see "One Thousand Wednesdays"):
- the "halmoni" keep demonstrating every wednesday, and they're not getting any younger,
- the Japanese government keeps refusing to apologize and to distance itself from the country's darkest moments,
- the Korean government keeps adding "diplomatic" pressure on their Japanese counterparts... without of course restoring the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at home
- Korean ultranationalists keep undermining the cause by making a "bibim" with all issues between Korea and Japan, and by attacking everything Japanese

But the Japanese government seems to be significantly losing ground:
- Recent attempts to attack or remove 'Comfort Women' memorials have spectacularly backfired: worldwide media have slammed the radical activist who vandalized the statue in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, and the delegation who tried to have the Palisades Park memorial removed** only managed to raise local, national, and international awareness for the cause they wanted to cover up
- The USA are not only maintaining US House Resolution 121, but also renewing requests: last July, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that when it came to qualify those war crimes, 'Enforced Sex Slaves' was more relevant an expression than the mild 'Comfort Women' generally used
- The cause is gaining momentum everywhere, reaching for victims of similar institutionalized sexual slavery systems, even in Africa. You simply can't fight against such an universal cause: when Mayor James RETUNDO tells how he reached the conclusion that a memorial had to be erected in his borough to stand for universal values, he's never raising his voice, only following his heart and his brain. Now Palisades Park can be proud of showing the way for the rest of the world
- More than ever, voices are being heard across the globe, and more than ever from Japanese people who strongly disagree with their own government's behavior. Hundreds of Japanese women have demonstrated in protest earlier this year, and a couple of days ago Yohei Kono, the former Chief Cabinet Secretary who first issued an embryo of apology in 1993, said that persisting in denial was very counterproductive for the nation***.

To me, it's not a matter of if but of when official apologies will be issued, and the more Japan waits, the worst it will get for its image, not to mention of course for the victims. I also know for sure that change cannot come from the corrupt bureaucracy that still today controls the Japanese political system (see "Japan politics? No to Comfort women, yes to Political whoring").

If YOON Mee-hyang regrets that little can be expected from lawmakers who sometimes have familial ties with people who planned or condoned war crimes, she sees hope in Japanese NGOs that disagree with that suicidal position. Annabel PARK met many Japanese people who refuse to see their country associated with unresolved war crimes any longer, and think the time has come to set the record straight, to embrace real democracy, and to reform a political system too often tainted by corruption and incompetence, a sentiment growing considerably after Fukushima. Of course, the hate game between nationalists from both countries perpetuates the gridlock.

Again, war crimes were committed, and again, justice needs to be carried out for the victims as well as for perpetrators, but ultimately, this is between Japan and itself: the Japanese people and the Japanese government must face their country's past if they want to build a better future, and for that they must finally condemn the Imperialist regime, and everything that tried to protect and glorify it afterwards (honoring war criminals, honoring the imperial flag, promoting revisionism, denying war crimes...). Germany did just that and now, everybody makes the difference between the country and Nazism, another regime that committed atrocious crimes and cast a dark shadow over the whole nation. 

Which brings us to the Godwin point I mentioned recently****: the sometimes confusing and abusive parallels with the Holocaust. I'm glad Deputy Major Jason KIM insisted wisely on the necessary distinction between "Japan" the country and "Imperialist Japan" the criminal regime from the past. It's a necessity to depollute a nationalism-contaminated issue, and to help the Japanese people achieve the duty to remember. But in Korea, where too many wounds are still open, many people have a problem grasping this kind of distinctions.

The first time I heard about the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), I was happy to see younger generations get involved in the fight against historical distorsions. But the first time I met their volunteers, I started worrying about how counterproductive it could become. As you well know I strongly denounce the claims on Dokdo by Japan's extreme right, but some of these youngsters were proselytizing as blindly as members of some nationalist cult. Now that I've seen and heard the founder, I understand: Mr PARK Gitae is a very energetic person motivated with the best intentions, but self-restraint and diplomacy are obviously not his forte, and he seems more interested in propaganda techniques than in moral issues. Typically, where everybody else talked about how to ensure peace in the future, Mr Park frantically insisted on copying everything that had been done to "promote" the memory of the Holocaust, mentioning Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" as if it were some kind of PR operation. Maybe because VANK's website is prkorea.org... I guess the time has come to tune up wisdom in the mix for this otherwise formidable tool.

Of course, it's not about Korea vs Japan, and all other members of the roundtable were very clear about that. And the gridlock between the Korean and the Japanese governments will not last long precisely because of the constructive involvement of the international community and international media around them, and because of the grassroot, peaceful involvement of moderate people from all nations who reject as false the choice between revisionism and nationalism.

A Global Truth and Reconciliation Network?

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* "The 'Comfort Women' issue: what is the solution?"(2012/10/10)
An ASAN Institute Roundtable moderated by BAEK Buhm-suk, Research Fellow, The ASAN Institute, with:
PARK Gitae, Founder, VANK (Voluntary Agency Network of Korea)
Annabel PARK, Filmmaker and activist (helped pass the US House Resolution 121 in 2007)
James ROTUNDO, Mayor, and Jason KIM, Deputy Mayor, Palisades Park, NJ (erected the first memorial to the victims outside of Korea)
YOON Mee-hyang, Co-representative, The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (WomenandWar.net)
NB: opening remarks by Hahm Chaibong, President, The ASAN Institute, followed by a chronology by YUN Yelim, Program Officer, The ASAN Institute.

**  "In New Jersey, Memorial for ‘Comfort Women’ Deepens Old Animosity" (NY Times - 20120519)

*** "Japan Must Stop Dodging Sex Slave Guilt, Kono Warns" (Chosun Ilbo - 20121009)

****   "Dokdo, Senkaku, Ieodo, Kuril,... Hashima?"

---
20121014 UPDATE: extract from Resolution 121 (HRES 121 EH)
---
20121015 UPDATE: a second memorial in New Jersey has been announced this week-end by Bergen County:
http://www.ny1.com/content/your_nj_news_now/170690/bergen-county-to-host-memorial-for-world-war-ii--comfort-women-
Change is coming!!!
PS: I had the pleasure to meet with one of the 'halmoni' yesterday. She radiated so much positive energy and hope, an inspiration for all generations.

Dokdo, Senkaku, Ieodo, Kuril,... Hashima?

Some day, Hasbro will make a fortune by releasing a Far East Islands Edition of its popular Risk board game. That would require anamorphic maps where islets no bigger than shrimp farts would outsize mainland China, so that each player could place all his armies and nuclear warheads.

Impossible to list all the hotspots, but they must involve at least two nations. To name some of the biggest stars
- Dokdo (Korean, claimed by Japan)*
- Senkaku (claimed by Japan and China)**
- Ieodo (claimed by Korea and China)***
- Kuril (claimed by Russia and Japan)
- Taiwan (claimed by China and... Taiwan)
- Gushiddink-do (claimed by the Netherlands and Korea... Gus kiddin'. Well barely, actually)
- ...

No one has lived on Hashima since the mid seventies, but no one contests the fact that this speck belongs to Japan. It's just that Korea has something to say about its submission to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.


"Do you remember?"
A poster similar to this ad
(published in the NYT last may) has just
been installed on Times Square. Koreans
ask Japanese politicians to officially
apologise, like Chancelor Willy Brandt
did when he knelt in front of the Warsaw
memorial for victims of the Holocaust

Hashima is truly an amazing and spectacular site. Mitsubishi used to own this island very rich in coal: the company built industrial facilities and dwellings over the mine, closed them in 1974, and eventually ceded everything to Nagasaki Prefecture ten years ago. I remember a beautifully scary documentary, a long time ago, about this islet fully covered with abandoned concrete structures on the verge of collapse.

On Thursday****, the Korean government announced that it refused to see Hashima join the UNESCO list in 2015, because that's a place where 800 Koreans were forced into dangerous and inhumane labor, sometimes tortured, or killed. It happened during WWII, and the lucky ones who survived the ordeal were sent to Nagasaki to help clean the mess after the nuclear bombing, adding radiation to insult and injury.

The claim is not new, but new research has been delivered by a governmental agency created in 2005, the Commission on Verification and Support for Victims of Forced Mobilization under Japanese Colonialism, which already revealed last summer that, of the 7.8 million Koreans mobilized under Japanese rule (1910-1945), over 226,000 have been registered as victims.

Lately, Korean authorities have been toying with Godwin's law, and the parallel between atrocities committed across Asia under Imperial Japanese rule, and the Holocaust perpetrated by their Nazi friends in Germany. Like that "Do you remember?" campaign in the US demanding official apologies for sex slavery / "Comfort Women". In the same vein, a UNESCO listing of Hashima as a simple "industrial site" would be equivalent to the listing of Auschwitz-Birkenau under the same category.

Outrageous? Yes, because the Shoah cannot be commoditized. But certainly less outrageous than the parallel between the victims of WWII bombings in Okinawa and the victims of the Pol Pot regime*****.

And certainly less outrageous than the revisionism institutionalized within Japan's political system. Again, Japan's failure to address its duty to remember lies at the root of too many problems. And again, the longer the task is postponed, the higher the risks of fueling anger across the region (particularly since that's the very aim of the game).

I suggest Hashima be listed only if it's with a clear and full mention of all sides of the coin. Visitors should not come out marvelling about the engineering wonder, but thinking about how deep humans can dig themselves into.

I'm not sure Mistubishi will support the motion.


Seoul Village 2012
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* see all posts related to Dokdo,
** see the recent focus "Japan politics? No to Comfort women, yes to Political whoring"
*** see "Ieodo: I smell a fish" and other posts related to Ieodo
****  see Korean press, including "Hashima ― forgotten island of tragedy" (Korea Herald 20121004)
** see "Ad Nauseam: about Dark Tourism, the Blind Spots of Memory, and Free Thrashing Agreements"

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UPDATE - typo title

Japan politics? No to Comfort women, yes to Political whoring

If you had any doubt regarding the motivation behind yet another sabre-rattling period between Japan and its neighbors, know that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reached his goal: a reelection as president of the Democratic Party of Japan and thus, as Prime Minister. Because his position was particularly weak a couple of weeks ago, he had to push the usual "political whoring" game full throttle - as it happens, he tugged the Dokdo Style tug of war with China over Senkaku-Diaoyu almost all the way beyond the war line.

Again*, in the archipelago, no one can remain in power without pledging allegiance to the pseudo nationalist clique that prevents Japan from facing the darkest moments of its history. Noda regularly licks their boots by promoting visits to Yasukuni shrine, by claiming that Japan's A-class War Criminals are not war criminals, by deliberately reigniting regional tensions and dousing them with gasoline. Prime Ministers pass, the system survives without any reaction from the peaceful people of Japan. The imposture works so well that Korea's extreme right is considering the same tricks (see "Worst followers"). Needless to say, Beijing hardliners are also more than happy to find partners playing their favorite game, and to silence moderates within the nation as well as across the region.

The Japanese people? Overwhelmingly unaware of the monstruosity of the situation. Barely annoyed by Uyoku dantai trucks roaming the cities with shameless extreme right propaganda. Dutifully using the official pink-painted words covering the dark spots of a distant past ("Comfort women" could be a brand of cosy slippers). Our politicians? A distant, selfsustained bunch of cosanguine bureaucrats. Of course they're corrupt and incompetent, but they more or less take care of day to day business. It's not as if we could lose our land or our soul because of them (never mind about Fukushima, never mind about Japan becoming a synonym of revisionism).

I don't know what it will take for the Japanese people to become actual citizens, to realize how ashamed they should be for what the whole political system does in the name of their beautiful nation, to demand an end to revisionism and fascism, and to make sure the next generations are not taught the same distorted vision of history.

I've got news for you, Japan: "Comfort women" were "sex slaves of the Japanese military", and your politicians are, still now, raping your own country before your very eyes. I'm not sorry if I shocked you: if you don't wake up now, you never will.

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* see previous episodes

Worst followers

As Korea is working on shifting from the "best follower" position to the "leader" seat, the country seems to take a step backwards with LEE Myung-bak's blitz visit of Dokdo, a first for a Cheong Wa Dae boss.

 

Cheongwadae's webpage this morning

The event comes as a convenient diversion for a ruling party struggling with embarrassing corruption cases that ruined recent rebranding effort* and compromised PARK Geun-hye's run for LEE's seat.

MB himself didn't need to boost his popularity, and he's not running for anything. But he has nothing to lose either. And thanks to this visit, the ultra conservative and ultra nationalist base somehow found a way of leveraging on the country's record harvest at the London Olympics. Picking the day of a major Japan-Korean game maximized the political impact, and Korea eventually claimed the bronze medal, as if boosted by the 'event'.

Of course, the Japanese retaliated by announcing visits of ministers to the utterly controversial Yasukuni Shrine, the traditional pledge of allegiance from a government to the local extreme right. For good measure, they'll even say hello to the remains of imperial war criminals on August 15, Korea's Liberation Day.

And of course, we cannot put both visits at the same level:
. Visits to Yasukuni are deliberately meant to honor the worst exactions of Japan's Imperial regime, and to please the extreme right minority that destroys Japan from the inside. "Takeshima" claims are also about keeping this fascist ideal alive (see "Save Dokdo = Save Japan").
. Dokdo is Korean territory and a visit by the President is fully legitimate. It is a strong signal to reaffirm independence and the end of colonization where it all started. Such a visit would make perfect sense following for instance skirmishes between both fleets at the vicinity of the island, to the condition that the President delivered a speech resolutely embracing peace and denouncing sterile hatemongering provocations from all sides, with a clear ambition to put all the venom away. But now, and this way?

I'm not criticizing the visit but the circumstances and the motives, apparently following a national(ist) agenda that shamelessly copies that of Japan's extreme right. If Mr LEE himself may not belong to the club, his government has multiplied suspicious decisions that, to say the least, have raised fundamental questions at home and abroad. Recently, it's as if Korea's extreme right pushed the whole right wing in a suicidal race, not AGAINST Japan's extreme right but IN TANDEM WITH they (and ultimately against the republican and democratic right wing). They really seem to be benchmarking this successful minority that even without public support manage to control Japanese governments to the point they cannot survive without pledging allegiance to them. Since they can't reach power democratically, they control the agenda through guerilla marketing operations with a maximum return on investment.

Again**, all extremists are impostors: the worst enemies of Japan's democracy are Japanese, the worst enemies of Korea's democracy are Korean, and both need each other to survive. That's why extreme right Japanese are very happy to see Korean partners ready to play with them (the more the merrier, the same is happening with China). Fundamentally, Korea's extreme right are jealous of their Japanese and Chinese counterpart, and the government doesn't seem to be doing anything to prevent them from getting bolder as elections loom.

Once more: both the Japanese people and the Korean people have the power and the duty to get rid of these enemies by exposing their impostures and by refusing the sick game of mutual hatred.

And once more, make no mistake: this is not about Japan vs Korea, but about Japan v. itself and about Korea v. itself. And if we're used to sepukku provocations from the archipelago, Korean extremists have recently** proved to be very apt pupils.


This year, in Korea, the real political debate should not be between right and left, but between on one side people from the right as well as from the left who defend the values of democracy and the republic, and on the other people who want to undermine the nation.

As planned, I visited Seoul Museum of History yesterday for the opening day of the exhibition about 100 years of Koreans in Japan (more about that later). I didn't expect such a massive turnout but I hope, and even believe, that LEE's visit had nothing to do with it. I was glad to see more than a few Japanese visitors. And sad to see how much remains to be done for these two peaceful nations to fully love each other.

And I really hope this visit won't make the pilgrimage compulsory for all Presidential hopefuls.

Seoul Village 2012
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* see "Saenuri, a brand "new" wor(l)d"

** I'm sincereley tired of listing each time all the posts related to these negative issues - please check the lists of posts and labels on this website.

Ieodo: I smell a fish

Long time no Ieodo claims from China!

For the Dokdo-esque fight between Korea and China over this obscure underwater territory known as Suyan Rock in Beijing, see "Korea on the rocks part II". Since Ieodo is underwater, it cannot be seen on a map*, but I positioned it (supposedly 32.122953, 125.182447) on Seoul Village map:

View Seoul Village in a larger map

The revival of such claims doesn't come as a surprise: Chinese fishing boats have recently tested South Korean nerves, the ongoing crisis culminating last December, when a Chinese fisherman stabbed a Korean coast guard to death. China has also been flexing its navy muscles across the globe, patrolling the seas with brand new fleets.

Just like with Japan and Dokdo, nationalism and politics are only part of the show: it's also about territorial waters and fishing zones, and China's catching up with its neighbors in fish and meat consumption... So skirmishes and provocations are bound to multiply.

Note that on the other side of the peninsula, Korea claimed a symbolic victory last month, when French publisher Larousse decided to switch for a balanced label to designate the body of water separating Korea from Japan: "Sea of Japan" now only appears in parentheses after the actual name, "East Sea"**.

Brace up for Ieodoisms, folks: fancy documentaries about rare planctons roaming the area? daily weather reports? 'Ieodo is Korean' bumper stickers?... you name it!

Be quick: someone may rename it.

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* even if Koreans planted a Korean Ieodo Ocean Research Station to mark the territory, without waiting for a verdict from global warming.
** "French Encyclopedia Publisher Adopts 'East Sea' Denomination" (Chosun Ilbo, February 20, 2012)

Deoksugung or Gyeongungung ?

According to the JoongAng Ilbo ("Deoksu's name might be changed"), the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea considers restoring the previous name of Deoksugung to Gyeongungung or Gyeongun palace (경운궁). Technically, the last change didn't occur under official Japanese rule (1910-1945), but under Japanese pressure and after Emperor Gojong's abdication in 1907, almost ironically celebrating the long and honorable life (德壽 / Deok-su) of Korea's first and last emperor. Gojong eventually died there in 1919.

The CHA would like to know what citizens think of this potential change, and personally I wouldn't favor abandoning the Deoksugung appellation.

If Japanese occupation left too many open wounds that still require proper treatments, this one is clearly not one of them. Every major city has monuments and names associated with troubled times, but which have, over time, lost all negative meanings and now positively belong to the city's landscape and history.

The city of Seoul, itself, logically changed its own name right after the Japanese occupation (during which "Keijo" or "Gyeongseong" were used), but Deoksugung's name was obviously not a major issue, and changing names wouldn't make much sense anymore, now that Deoksugung is associated with peace time and a pleasant stroll at the heart of the Korean republic's capital. To me, the restoration of Deoksugung-gil was much more important than the restoration of the palace's (not even) original name.

Furthermore, dropping the name Deoksugung would be meaningless without destroying the Deoksugung museum and other parts built during the occupation. We'd rather accept this monument as it is : built by Koreans, altered by the Japanese, now devoted to culture and overall, a major and consistent cultural asset of Seoul that tells a lot about its past, present, and future.

I strongly approved the destruction of the Japanese Government-General Building that deliberately destroyed the very soul of the city, and the restoration of Gyeongbokgung makes perfect sense. But I'm also glad that the new City Hall maintains part of the old Japanese structure. And I militate in favor of the protection of colonial times assets in Incheon. So to respect post-war peace as well as Seoul's full cultural heritage, I oppose the obliteration of the Deoksugung name.

Degrading Deoksugung as the official name would be like erasing sixty years of peaceful history. And please, please, let's not bring down this lovely place to the same arena as Dokdo.

I'm not saying that the Gyeongungung name should be obliterated for good. I simply mean that both appellations are correct (unlike in that other Seoul palace, Changdeokgung, where Huwon is wrongly known as Biwon by most people), but that one belongs only to a long gone past, and certainly neither to the present nor to the future. We shouldn't oppose them nor develop any risk of confusion, which would inevitably lead to stupid word fights were people calling the palace "Deoksu" would be dubbed "collaborators" by the self-proclaimed "patriots" who call it "Gyeongung".

To me, Deoksugung has been meaning something important for decades : the long and honorable life of Korea as an independent nation with a great past, but also a great future, precisely because it overcame sufferings to embrace peace and mutual respect.

Seoul Village 2011
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ADDENDUM 20110923

This column was published today in Korea JoongAng Ilbo under the same title.

Revisionist schoolbooks : change has not come to Japan

As a Christmas gift to local ultranationalists, the Japanese Government decided to give another hard push in favor of bold revisionism. As usual, school textbooks are used as a vehicle for promoting the idea that Dokdo belongs to the Great Empire. And as usual, the Korean Government denounced the infamy (see "Seoul hits Tokyo's new Dokdo stance").

This comes not as a surprise but as a disappointment : Hatoyama really seemed to be willing to crush the last throes of fascism in the archipelago, his aides even leaking proofs that Dokdo didn't belonged to Japan (see "According to Japanese law, Dokdo is not Japanese"). More recently, there were even rumors that the Emperor himself would visit Korea in 2010 to formulate official apologies for past wrongs.

That made me quite nervous : last time the Emperor made a move towards reconciliation, extreme right activists would push as hard as they could, fueling mutual hatred across the region, including China and Russia.

Actually, I'd been expecting this kind of provocations, lately : Hatoyama is much weaker than a few months ago and yes, that's the economy, stupid (stimulus programs won't last eternally and 2010 seems poised to be a tough year). Obviously, his government badly needs support from people he disagrees with.

Once again, if Dokdo doesn't belong to Japan (and that's been indisputably settled for good by the official documents leaked earlier this year), talking about Takeshima has always been about Japanese politics : claiming the islets, visiting Yasukuni, rewriting history books... each provocation comes at a time the ruler is in a defensive position and needs political support at home.

Japanese politicians keep fooling their own citizens and it's high time to expose this dangerous imposture.

Seoul Village 2009