Korea Steps Up Pressure

Home > National > Politics

print dictionary print

Korea Steps Up Pressure

The Foreign Ministry said Thursday the government would "employ all diplomatic measures" to pressure Japan to rewrite a history textbook that Seoul complains whitewashes Japan's wartime crimes on the Korean Peninsula.

Analysts said relations between the two countries will probably cool dramatically.

Senior government officials are now pushing for stronger measures, including the tightening of restrictions on Japanese cultural imports.

"We plan to pressure Japan with all diplomatic measures to get a revision of the textbook," said Choo Kyu-ho, director-general of the Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Mr. Choo is the spokesman for the task force that was launched Wednesday to tackle the controversial textbook issue.

One South Korean government official said, "Japan will not get away this time, and we will not be afraid of straining our relations with them."

This signals a dramatic shift in the government's approach.

When Japan approved the eight middle-school history textbooks on April 3, South Korean officials said the government would seek measures that would not threaten bilateral relations.

The task force says it plans to make an official request that the books be rewritten after a close analysis of the texts is completed on April 20.

Also, the government is looking into joint protests in cooperation with countries such as Vietnam and China, who also were under Japanese control.



by Lee Chul-hee

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)