[EDITORIAL] Fabricating Japanese History

Home > National > Politics

print dictionary print

[EDITORIAL] Fabricating Japanese History

A leading Japanese archaeologist recently admitted he had fabricated the discovery of stoneware believed to be 700,000 years old by burying the objects himself. Earlier, his discovery drew worldwide attention for proving the existence of the Old Stone Age in Japan.

This shameless scholar bowed his head and said, "I was tempted by the devil because of psychological pressures." But since the Japanese distort their history textbooks to reduce the magnitude of their historical atrocities, we cannot help wonder whether Japanese society as a whole is being tempted by the devil.

During a recent meeting in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn expressed concern to his Japanese counterpart over the distorted representation of history in Japanese textbooks submitted for government approval as well as the reduced space given to the Korean "comfort women'' used by the Japanese army during World War II. Last month, the Korean ambassador to Japan, Choi Sang-yong, warned in a lecture that historical facts should not be distorted.

What we are concerned about and take issue with in the contents of Japanese history textbooks is largely the part that deals with modern history, in particular Japan's colonization, invasion and exploitation of Korea.

The distortion and reduction of Japan's atrocities are influenced by Japan's nationalistic right wing, which advocates the so-called "liberal historical viewpoint." A middle school history textbook that has been submitted for approval by a rightist group has false information on Japan's annexation of Korea. This is why we cannot simply regard the recent fabrication as the deviation of one individual.

The Japanese government must return to the neighborly spirit it adopted after the so-called textbook scandal of 1992 when it said: "In describing foreign relations, we will consider other countries in a spirit of international understanding and cooperation." If the current trend continues, however, it appears that another textbook scandal might erupt after the new textbooks are officially announced next spring.
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)