[Meanwhile] The weight of apology

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[Meanwhile] The weight of apology

LEE YOUNG-HEE
The author is a Tokyo correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo.

I desperately waited for the word “apology” while covering Tokyo’s response to Seoul’s announcement on March 6 of a solution to the compensation for wartime forced labor. There had been predictions that Japan would “reciprocate” by succeeding the past statements expressing remorse and apology for its colonial rule.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s first response was, “Regarding historical awareness, we have inherited the position of previous Cabinets in general and will continue to do so.”

It was an intentionally vague answer on what kind of perception of history it would succeed. In the official government announcement, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi made it a bit more specific by saying, “We inherit the positions of the previous Cabinets on historical awareness, including the Korea-Japan Joint Declaration in October 1998.”

But I felt a determination by Japan to never mention the “painful reflection” and “sincere apology” expressed by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in the joint declaration in 1998. The remarks by the Japanese foreign minister seemed to suggest, “Is this enough?” It was not an apology, as it was insulting to the listener.

Over the course of resolving discords over the forced labor issue, Japan did little. One of the responses Korea expected from Japan was to have the accused companies participate in the compensation.

But Tokyo might have found it hard to accept, as it kept insisting that the compensation was over with the $300 million in grants and $200 million in loans Japan gave to Korea through the 1965 Basic Treaty to normalize diplomatic relations.

The other response Seoul expected from Tokyo was the expression of an apology. But Japan lowered its expectations to just continuing the apology from past statements.

Why does Japan have to be so stingy? Did the Korean government know about this but still rushed to announce the solution, claiming, “At least we’ve got one.”

There is still time. The Korea-Japan summit is to be held in Tokyo on March 16. Kishida will not mention “apology” at the meeting. According to Jiji News Agency, Japan avoids mentioning an apology “because of the possibility that Korea would reverse it even if Tokyo expresses a new apology.”

A ruling Liberal Democratic Party member told Jiji News Agency, “If we are betrayed by Korea again, it will be the end of the Kishida Cabinet.”

But an “indirect apology” with a patronizing attitude will only backfire. In a 2015 statement, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the spiritual pillar of the conservatives, said, “We should not make the next generation bear the fate of apology.” He added, “Nevertheless, Japanese people have to squarely face our past beyond generations. We have the responsibility to humbly succeed the past and hand it to the future.”
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