W. at The Shilla for Chosun

You know you're entering POTUS territory when your mobile phone plays dead. Even when said POTUS is, in his own terms, "retired" and "out of the loop". For good measure, George W. Bush started oil painting a couple of years ago, but so far, his teacher has failed to bring out the "Rembrandt trapped in (his) body". Laura convinced him to expose at his Presidential Library the portraits of 27 heads of state, and I really wonder if Jacques Chirac is a member of this new "Axis of Easel".

When it comes to collecting former heads of state, you can trust Chosun Ilbo's prestigious Asian Leadership Conference. If we solely consider the host nation and the US of A, the conference started last year* with the Prime Minister and a former Secretary of State, and for this 5th edition, with President Park Geun-hye and "43". Whom do they have in store for 2015? 

This morning at The Shilla, Chosun Media also delivered 4 former Prime Ministers: Yukio HATOYAMA (who strongly condemned Shinzo ABE for his infamous Yasukuni visit), Julia GILLARD (still not much into foreign affairs, I reckon), Lothar de MAIZIÈRE (who signed the reunification treaty for East Germany), and Goh Chok Tong (who succeeded Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore). The first 3 were on stage with Leon PANETTA, the former Secretary of Defense of the United States / Director of the CIA / Chief of Staff, and RYOO Kihl-Jae, South Korea's Minister of Unification... or shall I say "Minister of Bonanza"?

James Pearson (‏@pearswick): "The Blue House says 대박's official translation is now 'bonanza', not 'jackpot'. So roll on the 'unification bonanza'". Seoul Village (‏@theseoulvillage) " @pearswick meet the new Ministry of Unification" twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/436387918056128514

Note that Chosun Ilbo CEO BANG Sang-hoon used the English word 'jackpot' in his opening remarks. And that both he and PARK Geun-hye elaborated on the satellite night view of North Korea recently published by the ISS (see "Superpower failures").

Difficult to think of a better image to measure the challenge ahead for the theme this year: "One Korea, New Asia". But the two videos aired during the Opening Ceremony were much more positive: spectacular series of pristine DMZ landscapes (okay, a few military here and there), followed by an animated movie showing two railways reach across the Korean peninsula and, beyond, Eurasia: one via Beijing, the other via Moscow.

But so far, we've heard little about Russia, in spite of Vladimir Putin's efforts to steal some of the spotlights a priori devoted to KIM Jong-un.  

"Curious to hear what G. W. Bush will say about "Ukrainia" at ALC Chosun. An "Axis of Anvil" with Russia's resurrected hammer and sickle?"
twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/440232628977799170

We also owe that to Dr. HAHM Chaibong. The President of ASAN Institute was moderating W's keynote speech, which turned out to be a friendly discussion that did venture into unexpected territories (that's where we learned about Dubya's artistic ambitions), but always remained focused on the topic of the day. 

The cameras focused on various parts of the audience while the two notoriously cool dudes chatted pleasantly on stage: are they talking about human rights in North Korea? here's a close-up of CHUNG Mong-joon on the giant screens; is Bush's recalling how Samsung invested in Texas when he was the Governor? here's LEE Jay-yong's face...

Let's be very clear: I'm not a Bush fan, and that's an outrageous understatement. Typically, I was not so convinced when this man tearfully recalled how "appalled" he was to see a government deny all justice to prisoners kept in the camps depicted in "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" or "Escape from Camp 14"**: Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib were not precisely the finest moments of his own Administration.

But give him that: George W. Bush remains the heckuvan entertainer, and I couldn't repress smiles at his incessant wisecracks, for example when he told the story of that lost phone call to Jiang Zemin. Dubya the pseudo-Texan also remains at his swaggering best: look at him dismiss the risk of seeing China eclipse America ("forget it! it's not gonna happen!"), or the risk of himself coming out of retirement ("I had all the fame and power, I don't want anymore!").

"W" at The Shilla for Chosun - Today, I learned that in the George W. Bush Presidential Library, you're likely to find not only bibles and rare editions of My Pet Goat, but also great books about North Korean prison camps.

The former POTUS gracefully praised all the Chinese and Korean leaders he served with, ROH Moo-hyun as well as his friend LEE Myung-bak (after all, The Attorney was the partner at the origin of the FTA).


And when he left the room, my mobile phone miraculously resurrected.


Seoul Village 2014
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

* see "Asian Leadership Conference 2013"
** GWB will again meet with KANG Chol-hwan and SHIN Dong-hyuk this afternoon

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

According to Japanese law, Dokdo is not Japanese

Change has definitely come to Japan. As expected*, Yukio Hatoyama is trying to do the right thing by puting an end to all sick nationalist revivals. And the new P.M. seems to be willing to act quickly, going at the root.

Imperialist nostalgists claim Kuril Islands and Dokdo as theirs ? "An unidentified senior Japanese government official" releases the proof that they don't belong to Japan**.

In the midst of an APEC summit, Japan decides to set the record straight and lead the region the most noble way.

As Barack Obama tours the continent, Japan rejects as false the choice between its own History and its own ideals.

Seoul Village 2009

* see "A Common History", a dramatic change since "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong"

** see "Japanese Document Shows Dokdo as Foreign Territory" (Chosun Ilbo 20091116) : "Japan's Ministry of Finance issued a notice document numbered 654 on Aug. 15, 1946, a year after Korean independence, that says Dokdo is foreign soil along with Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the South Sea Islands".

A Common History

Change has come to Japan.

At long last, a Japanese Foreign Minister called for a shared vision of history between Japan, China, and Korea, materialized in a common textbook.

Katsuya Okada confirms the hopes raised by Hatoyama's election, and revives the courageous position of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who apologied for "damage and suffering" under colonial rule, called for an end to nationalism, and urged fellow Japanese citizens to face their own past.

As I wrote earlier, "it's up to the Japanese people to decide : allow those warmongers to set the diplomatic agenda and rewrite textbooks for the next generations, or continue on their peaceful path. But to ensure the latter choice, they must at last face the sometimes troubled history of their beautiful country."

The time has come to set the record straight, and I'm sure Korea and China can work out something great together in a very near future (this noble announcement came ahead of a meeting between Lee Myung-bak and Yukio Hatoyama).

I'm not sure China will join the effort all the way : the regime is too busy working on its own revisionist versions. English scholars recently mocked at China's "Hanschluss" attempt on Goguryeo civilization : it would be as if England claimed to have created the German civilization.

The potential hurdles of these "three/four-party talks" shouldn't deter Korea and Japan to work on their common history as soon as possible, silencing nationalists from all sides.

This should also convince LEE to maintain his country's vital effort in coping with its own troubled past (see "President Lee, please keep digging") : Korea needs its Truth and Reconciliation Commission more than ever.
Seoul Village 2009

ADDENDUM : this post was later published under the title "Japan may face its history" in JoongAng Ilbo (20091012)

Japan: let's wait and (East) see

Japan and Korea have a lot to gain at sharing the same vision of history, developping a relationship based on mutual respect.

And sooner or later, Japan will decide for good or for worse what to do with its own past : face it or erase it. If lately, the trend has definitely been in favor of revisionism (see "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong"), Hatoyama's victory yesterday clearly revives hopes for much sounder relationships between Japan and Korea.

As a cautious but hopeful celebration, I spilled this "white blogule" today :

Land of the rinsing sun ?

As Taro Aso became Prime Minister, he fulfilled a personal ambition to the risk of marring his own name : Japan was bound to face tough times, and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) bound to struggle at the 2009 elections.

Base case scenario then was a 1993 style victory for the Democratic Party of Japan.

Even if a few DPJ leaders have experienced their own turpitudes over the past year, LDP took very much the expected dive. Taro Aso's era and sense of timing could be summed up by one drunken Finance Minister at a G7 summit, and record high unemployment figures published on the eve of elections.

Forget about the base case scenario : Sunday, DPJ claimed over 300 seats out of 480 at the Lower House.

Hopefully, this worst case scenario for the LDP could turn out to be the best case scenario for Japan.

Because Japan badly needs change. Not change as in "political alternation", but change as in "political and societal shift".

Before becoming a controversial Prime Minister, Taro Aso was a controversial Foreign Minister, pushing all the (extreme) right buttons to please imperialist dieharders, infuriating Chinese and Korean neighbors*, and even dispising Hiromu Nonaka, a LDP rival, for being "burakumin", a person coming from a minority. Nevermind the fact that Korean blood runs through the body of the Emperor himself.

Taro's successor Yukio Hatoyama defends burakus and Japanese of Korean origin. He fights against discrimination at home and for reconciliation with neighbors. He leads a movement in favor of stronger ties between Korea and Japan, and has a vision for both countries as natural partners in the region.

Behind this 62 year-old leader, DPJ sent to the Diet an impressive roster of young people, many of whom women, kicking out of the political landscape a collection of dinosaurs who'd be running for decades a country glued in keiretsu conservatism and bureaucracy.

These elections could mean the end of Post-War Japan and the beginning of something new. Now would be the perfect time to - at last** ! - set the record straight about what happened during and before the said war, and to get rid of the only minority that tarnishes its greatness : a dangerous clique of nostalgist and revisionist fascists.

Japan has a unique opportunity to embrace the new millenium as a great nation at peace with its neighbors, its own past, and its own citizens.


blogules 2009 (also in French : "Le Pays du Soleil Lavant ?")


* see "Taro Aso after Tzipi Livni and before... ?"
** see too many previous blogules about Japan, and why unrepentant Japan shouldn't be allowed to seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.