|
: The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see its talk page. - South Korea, North Korea, and Japan have had disputes on many issues. Although South Korea and Japan are major trading partners and there are many students, tourists, entertainers, and businesspeople traveling frequently between the two countries, Japan and the two Koreas haven't had a friendly relationship in history, to a large degree even today. Listed below are some of the issues that are still argued about.
Political Disputes
Takeshima/Dokdo Small uninhabited islets between Japan and Korea, also known as the Liancourt Rocks, which are currently occupied by the South Korean navy. Called "Takeshima" in Japanese and "Dokdo" in Korean, their sovereignty has long been disputed among Japan, South Korea, and (less vigorously) North Korea.
Sea of Japan/East Sea See Dispute over the name Sea of Japan
Korean Government Policies Since regaining independence from Japan after World War II, South Korea has persistently enforced anti-Japanese policies, including a blanket ban on Japanese cultural products such as songs or books which has been lifted recently. Some historians believe the resentment arose due to Koreans being forced by Japan to adopt many aspects of western culture as they modernized their industry. Before and during World War II, occupying Japanese forces applied policies of enforced assimilation among Koreans, causing enormous anti-Japanese feeling in Korea.
North Korean nuclear weapons claims Japan opposes the claimed North Korean development of nuclear weapons, stating it is a direct threat to Japan's national security. North Korea's stated the position is that this is a matter for discussion solely between North Korea and the USA, although six-nation talks proceeded in 2004 between the two Koreas, Japan, the United States, China, and Russia.
In 2002, Kim Jong Il of North Korea stated that North Korean agents had kidnapped Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, apparently as a method of training. Five of these abducted Japanese have been allowed to return to Japan. This problem remains still unsolved, since Japan believes more abductees remain in North Korea.
Yasukuni Shrine See Yasukuni Shrine.
Japanese History Textbooks The Japanese Ministry of Education and Science controls the content of school history textbooks to a certain extent. Each publishing company's textbook must pass inspection before it is allowed to be marketed to each school board. After Tsukurukai's textbook passed the inspection in April 2001, the Korean and the Chinese governments protested strongly. South Korea demanded the revision 25 parts of the textbook. However, the Japanese government rejected their demands. Consequently, anti-Japanese feelings erupted throughout Korea and China. Some cultural exchanges have been stopped in protest by Koreans. This movement also arose resentment among some supporters of the book because many of them felt that the Korea and China had interfered in domestic affairs within Japan. In the end, Tsukurukai's controversial textbook was adopted by a minuscule 0.039% of the schools.
South Korean History Textbooks In South Korea, only one history textbook, which is published by the Korean Government is used in schools. Some scholars claim that the history textbook is not objectively written and uses biased information to criticize the Japanese occupation. In response, the Korean government asserts that the information is a clear description of the history of that occupational period and is modest in comparison with the inappropriate language used in Chinese textbooks regarding the Sino-Japanese War of 1937.
Comfort Women See Comfort women.
Historical/Social Disputes
Origin of Japanese - Archaeological studies show that a large influx of people from Korea immigrated to Japan along with technology, culture, and language. This can lead one to believe that Koreans are the cultural and ethnical father of the Japanese. It is also believed that the majority of the Japanese are the descendants of the inhabitants of Baekje, an ancient kingdom that existed in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula. According to the chronicles of Japan II (續日本紀), Emperor Kammu of Japan's mother was a descendant of King Muryeong of Baekje, Korea. Prince Akhito of Japan has made several acknowledgements of Japans Imperial family being descended from Korea. TV programmes have been created in South Korea based on these studies. What is disputed about this is whether to classify the immigrants as "Korean", since the concept of "Korean" and the concept of "Japanese" did not exist at the time. It also interesting to note that Japanese grammar is nearly identical to Korean grammar. This may be due to Korea adopting the Chinese writing system first, then passing on the Chinese writing system with Korean grammar to Japan. The close relationship between the languages spoken by Yamato dynasty and some of languages spoken on the Korean penninsula is not accepted with open arms in Japan, but the Imperial dialect spoken by the Yamato is nearly identical to the language spoken in Baekje. In addition, upon the collapse of the ancient Korean dynasties, Baekje and Goguryeo, Japan accepted the Koreans that fled their homeland. Most Koreans were received warmly, for they played a notable role in introducing advanced Korean cultural assets and new technology to Japan. The descendants of the Koreans eventually lost their homogeneous traits as they assimilated as part of the Japanese.
Japanese Annexation of Korea In the 19th century, after winning the first Sino-Japanese war, Japan eventually annexed Korea. How each country describes this part of history causes much of the dispute between these two countries. Some Japanese rightists tend to under-emphasise the Japanese oppression of Koreans and over-emphasise the role Japanese rule had in the industrialisation and modernisation of Korea. In Korea, the opposite is the case. Some comments by senior Japanese politicians in regard to Japan's war time atrocities often create a fury in Korea as well as China. Korean generally hold highly critical view of Japanese historiography and the South Korean government recently demanded the reinspection of all Japanese school textbooks. In turn there are some Japanese trying to expose some perceived distortion of history by Korea. These include perceived exaggeration of Japanese atrocities and oppression.
See also:
- Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty
Zainichi-Koreans Zainichi (Resident Japan) is a euphemism for Koreans residing in Japan, most of them second- or third-generation Koreans who still hold either North or South Korean passports. Some were kidnapped to Japan to work in Japan during the WWII. Then their was a small influx during Korean War where many Korean came to Japan as refugees. Japanese Korean communities are split between affiliation to North or South Korea. The majority of Koreans living in Japan use Japanese names in public because discrimination is prevalent. They face much discrimination in terms of marriage or employment. This problem is especially acute with North Koreans as Japan does not hold formal diplomatic ties with North Korea. Part of the problem of assimilation of second or third generation Koreans is that the Japanese government bases nationality on lineage and not on the fact that these people have never set foot in Korea. In addition until recently Japan required adoption of Japanese name as part of naturalisation. Japanese discrimination against Koreans is widely reported in Korea and seen as proof that Japan has not learned from her past. Koreans believe in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past Japan must learn the correct history and not the distorted nationalistic version.
Corea/Korea Some South Koreans claim that Japanese intentionally promoted the spelling of Korea instead of Corea during the colonial era, the reason being that K comes after J in the Latin alphabet. In 1594, the map created by Petrus Plancius of the Netherlands is known to be the oldest existing map in Europe that made reference to Korea with the marking Corea. However, a small number of maps were written with K in the word-initial position. It would be difficult to assess what really happened.
Related articles | 
Feeds |
Contact