Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea
Encyclopedia
The Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea is complex and multi-faceted. Anti-Japanese sentiment
attitudes in the Korea
can be traced back to the effects of Japanese pirate raids
and the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598), such as dismembering more than 20,000 noses and ears from Koreans and bringing them back to Japan to create nose tomb
s, but are largely a product of the period of Japanese rule in Korea
from 1910–1945 and subsequent education. This sentiment may also be at least to some extent influenced by issues related to Koreans in Japan.
(倭寇) was the Japanese pirates, who raided the coastlines of China
and Korea
from the 13th century onwards.
However, Japanese pirates were already mentioned on the Korean Gwanggaeto Stele
erected in 414, and this record was shown that Wokou's attacks on Korean coast were remarkably early started. From the 13th to the Mid-16th Century, Wokou raids were particularly considered a nuisance in Korea disrupting commerce 529 time in Goryeo
period, and 312 time in Joseon
period.
In modern times, the term Wokou has been used in China
and Korea
as a derogatory or propagandic term for Japan
ese invaders.
s as war trophies
. In addition after the war, Korean art
isans including potters were kidnapped by Hideyoshi's order to cultivate Japan's arts and culture. The abducted Korean potters played important roles to be a major factor in establishing new types of pottery such as Satsuma
, Arita, and Hagi ware. This would cause tension because the Koreans feel that their culture was stolen during this time by Japan.
from 1910 to 1945. Japan's involvement began with the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa
during the Joseon Dynasty
of Korea and increased over the following decades with the Gapsin Coup (1882), the First Sino-Japanese War
(1894–95) , the assassination of Empress Myeongseong at the hands of Japanese agents in 1895, the establishment of the Korean Empire
(1897), the Russo-Japanese War
(1904–05), the Taft-Katsura Agreement
(1905), and culminating with the 1905 Eulsa Treaty
, removing Korean autonomous diplomatic rights, and the 1910 Annexation Treaty
, both of which were eventually declared null and void by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
in 1965.
The Japanese colonization of Korea has been mentioned as the case in point of "cultural genocide
" by Yuji Ishida on February 23, 2004. The colonial government put into practice the suppression of Korean culture and language in an "attempt to root out all elements of Korean culture from society"."Focus was heavily and intentionally placed upon the psychological and cultural element in Japan's colonial policy, and the unification strategies adopted in the fields of culture and education were designed to eradicate the individual ethnicity of the Korean race."
After the annexation of Korea, Japan enforced a cultural assimilation
policy. The Korean language was removed from the required school subjects in Korea in 1936. Japan imposed the family name
system along with civil law
(Sōshi-kaimei
) and attendance at Shinto
shrines. Koreans were forbidden to write or speak the Korean language in schools, businesses, or public places under penalty of death. However, many Korean language movies were screened in the Korean peninsula.
In addition, Koreans were angry over Japanese alteration and destruction of various Korean monuments including Gyeongbok Palace (경복궁, Gyeongbokgung) and the revision of documents that portrayed the Japanese in a negative light.
. A Declaration of Independence
http://www.kimsoft.com/2004/samil-declaration.htm, patterned after the American version
, was read by teachers and civic leaders in tens of thousands of villages throughout Korea: “Today marks the declaration of Korean independence. There will be peaceful demonstrations all over Korea. If our meetings are orderly and peaceful, we shall receive the help of President Wilson and the great powers at Versailles, and Korea will be a free nation.” Japan repressed independence movement by military power. In one well attested incident, villagers were herded into the local church which was then set on fire. The official Japanese count of casualties include 553 killed, 1,409 injured, and 12,522 arrested, but the Korean estimates are much higher: over 7,500 killed, about 15,000 injured, and 45,000 arrested.
" (위안부, wianbu). http://www.comfort-women.org/ Some Japanese historians, such as Yoshiaki Yoshimi
, using the diaries and testimonies of military officials as well as official documents from Japan and archives of the Tokyo tribunal, have argued that the Imperial Japanese military
was either directly or indirectly involved in coercing, deceiving, luring, and sometimes kidnapping young women throughout Japan’s Asian colonies and occupied territories
. However Japanese historian Ikuhiko Hata stated that there was no organized forced recruitment of comfort women by Japanese government or military. http://hassin.sejp.net/Hata-Ianfu_text.pdf
ASIANOW article described popularity of Japanese culture among younger South Koreans as "unsettling" for older Southerners who remember the occupation by the Japanese.
In the South, collaborators
to the Japanese colonial government
, called chinilpa
(친일파), are generally recognized as national traitors. The South Korean National Assembly passed the Special law to redeem pro-Japanese collaborators' property
on December 8, 2005 and the law was enacted on December 29, 2005. In 2006, The National Assembly of South Korea formed a Committee for the Inspection of Property of Japan Collaborators. The aim was to reclaim property inappropriately gained by cooperation with the Japanese government during colonialization. The project was expected to satisfy Koreans' demands that property acquired by collaborators under the Japanese colonial authorities be returned.
While some Koreans expressed hope that former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
would handle Japanese-Korean relations in a more agreeable fashion that previous conservative administrations, a small group of protesters in Seoul held an anti-Japanese rallying on October 8, 2009 previous to his arrival. The protests called for Japanese apologies for World War II incidents and included destruction of a Japanese flag.
. On June 26, 1982 the textbook screening process in Japan came under scrutiny when the media of Japan and its neighboring countries gave extensive coverage to changes required by the Minister of Education
. Experts from the ministry sought to soften textbook references to Japanese aggression before and during World War II. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937, for example, was modified to "advance." Passages describing the fall of Nanking justified the Japanese atrocities by describing the acts as a result of Chinese provocations. Pressure from China successfully led the Ministry of Education to adopt a new authorization criterion - the "Neighboring Country Clause" (近隣諸国条項) - stating: "textbooks ought to show understanding and seek international harmony in their treatment of modern and contemporary historical events involving neighboring Asian countries."
In 2006, Japanese textbooks wrote that the Liancourt Rocks
is Japanese territory. The head of the South Korean Ministry of Education, Kim Shinil, sent a letter of protest to Bunmei Ibuki
, the Minister of Education, on May 9, 2007. In a speech marking the 88th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun
called for Japan to correct their school textbooks on controversial topics ranging from "inhumane rape of comfort women
" to "the Korean ownership of the Liancourt Rocks
".
discontinued visits to Yasukuni Shrine
due to the People's Republic of China's requests in 1986. However, Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
resumed visits to Yasukuni Shrine
on August 13, 2001. He visited the shrine six times as Prime Minister, stating that he was "paying homage to the servicemen who died for defense of Japan." These visits drew strong condemnation and protests from Japan's neighbors, mainly China
.
As a result, China and South Korea refused to meet with Koizumi, and there were no mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese leaders after October 2001 and between South Korean and Japanese leaders after June 2005. Former President of South Korea
Roh Moo-hyun
suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan.
According to a survey conducted by Korean Immigrant Workers Human Rights Center in 2006, 34.1% of the primary school students in Incheon
region answered that "Japanese should be expelled from Korea" and the rate was considerably higher compared to Chinese (8.7%), black Africans (8.7%), East Asians (5.0%), black Americans (4.3%), and white Americans (2.3%).
Professor Park Cheol-Hee of Gyeongin National University of Education pointed out that there were many descriptions regarding other nations as inferior to emphasize the superiority of Korean culture, and Japan is consistently described as culturally inferior.
A survey found that 60% middle school students and 51% of high school students in South Korea view the descriptions about Japan and China in the current Korean history textbooks as biased.
Anti-Japanese sentiment
Anti-Japanese sentiment involves hatred, grievance, distrust, dehumanization, intimidation, fear, hostility, and/or general dislike of the Japanese people and Japanese diaspora as ethnic or national group, Japan, Japanese culture, and/or anything Japanese. Sometimes the terms Japanophobia and...
attitudes in the Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
can be traced back to the effects of Japanese pirate raids
Wokou
Wokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...
and the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598), such as dismembering more than 20,000 noses and ears from Koreans and bringing them back to Japan to create nose tomb
Nose tomb
Nose tombs are tombs that contain human noses or other body parts that were severed from Koreans and brought back to Japan as trophies during the Japanese invasions of Korea in the late 16th century...
s, but are largely a product of the period of Japanese rule in Korea
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
from 1910–1945 and subsequent education. This sentiment may also be at least to some extent influenced by issues related to Koreans in Japan.
Wokou; Japanese pirates
WokouWokou
Wokou , which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards...
(倭寇) was the Japanese pirates, who raided the coastlines of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
from the 13th century onwards.
However, Japanese pirates were already mentioned on the Korean Gwanggaeto Stele
Gwanggaeto Stele
The stele of King Gwanggaeto of Goguryeo was erected in 414 by King Jangsu as a memorial to his deceased father. It is one of the major primary sources extant for the history of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and supplies invaluable historical detail on his reign as well as insights...
erected in 414, and this record was shown that Wokou's attacks on Korean coast were remarkably early started. From the 13th to the Mid-16th Century, Wokou raids were particularly considered a nuisance in Korea disrupting commerce 529 time in Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...
period, and 312 time in Joseon
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
period.
In modern times, the term Wokou has been used in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
as a derogatory or propagandic term for Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese invaders.
Japanese invasions of Korea
During this time the invading Japanese dismembering more than 20,000 noses and ears from Koreans and bringing them back to Japan to create nose tombNose tomb
Nose tombs are tombs that contain human noses or other body parts that were severed from Koreans and brought back to Japan as trophies during the Japanese invasions of Korea in the late 16th century...
s as war trophies
War trophy
In ancient Greece and Rome, military victories were commemorated with a display of captured arms and standards. A trophy was originally a war memorial assembled from such items on a battlefield. The Roman triumph also displayed these items as well as cultural objects, which later came to be...
. In addition after the war, Korean art
Korean art
Korean art is art originating or practiced in Korea or by Korean artists, from ancient times to today. Korea is noted for its artistic traditions in pottery, music, calligraphy, and other genres, often marked by the use of bold color, natural forms, and surface decoration.-Introduction:The earliest...
isans including potters were kidnapped by Hideyoshi's order to cultivate Japan's arts and culture. The abducted Korean potters played important roles to be a major factor in establishing new types of pottery such as Satsuma
Satsuma ware
]Satsuma ware , sometimes referred to as "Satsuma porcelain", is a type of Japanese earthenware pottery. It originated in the late 16th century, during the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and is still produced today...
, Arita, and Hagi ware. This would cause tension because the Koreans feel that their culture was stolen during this time by Japan.
Effect of Japanese rule in Korea
Korea was ruled by the Japanese EmpireEmpire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
from 1910 to 1945. Japan's involvement began with the 1876 Treaty of Ganghwa
Treaty of Ganghwa
The Japan-Korea Treaty of Amity, also known as the Treaty of Ganghwa or Treaty of Kanghwa, was made between representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Kingdom of Joseon in 1876...
during the Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
of Korea and increased over the following decades with the Gapsin Coup (1882), the First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
(1894–95) , the assassination of Empress Myeongseong at the hands of Japanese agents in 1895, the establishment of the Korean Empire
Korean Empire
The Greater Korean Empire was an empire of Korea that succeeded the Joseon Dynasty.In October 1897, Emperor Gojong proclaimed the new entity at Gyeongungung Palace and oversaw the partially successful modernization of the military, economy, land system, education system, and various industries...
(1897), the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
(1904–05), the Taft-Katsura Agreement
Taft-Katsura Agreement
The Taft–Katsura Agreement was a set of notes taken during conversations between United States Secretary of War William Howard Taft and Prime Minister of Japan Katsura Tarō on 29 July 1905...
(1905), and culminating with the 1905 Eulsa Treaty
Eulsa Treaty
The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905, also known as the Eulsa Treaty or Japan–Korea Protectorate Treaty, was made between the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1905. Negotiations were concluded on November 17, 1905....
, removing Korean autonomous diplomatic rights, and the 1910 Annexation Treaty
Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty
The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, was made by representatives of the Empire of Japan and the Korean Empire in 1910. Negotiations were concluded on August 20, 1910...
, both of which were eventually declared null and void by the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea was signed on June 22, 1965 to establish basic relationship between Japan and the Republic of Korea .-History:...
in 1965.
Japan's cultural assimilation policies
Cultural genocide
Cultural genocide is a term that lawyer Raphael Lemkin proposed in 1933 as a component to genocide. The term was considered in the 1948 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples juxtaposed next to the term ethnocide, but it was removed in the final document, replaced with...
" by Yuji Ishida on February 23, 2004. The colonial government put into practice the suppression of Korean culture and language in an "attempt to root out all elements of Korean culture from society"."Focus was heavily and intentionally placed upon the psychological and cultural element in Japan's colonial policy, and the unification strategies adopted in the fields of culture and education were designed to eradicate the individual ethnicity of the Korean race."
After the annexation of Korea, Japan enforced a cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
policy. The Korean language was removed from the required school subjects in Korea in 1936. Japan imposed the family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
system along with civil law
Civil law (legal system)
Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...
(Sōshi-kaimei
Soshi-kaimei
Sōshi-kaimei was a policy created by Jiro Minami, Governor-General of Korea under the Empire of Japan, implemented upon Japanese subjects from Korea . As defined by Ordinance No...
) and attendance at Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
shrines. Koreans were forbidden to write or speak the Korean language in schools, businesses, or public places under penalty of death. However, many Korean language movies were screened in the Korean peninsula.
In addition, Koreans were angry over Japanese alteration and destruction of various Korean monuments including Gyeongbok Palace (경복궁, Gyeongbokgung) and the revision of documents that portrayed the Japanese in a negative light.
Independence Movement
On March 1, 1919, anti-Japanese rule protests were held all across the country to demand independence. About 2 million Koreans actively participated in what is now known as the March 1st MovementMarch 1st Movement
The March 1st Movement, or Samil Movement, was one of the earliest public displays of Korean resistance during the occupation of the Korean Empire by Japan. The name refers to an event that occurred on March 1, 1919, hence the movement's name, literally meaning "Three-One Movement" or "March First...
. A Declaration of Independence
Korean independence movement
The Korean independence movement grew out of the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. After the Japanese surrendered, Korea became independent; that day is now an annual holiday called Gwangbokjeol in South Korea, and Chogukhaebangŭi nal in North Korea.-Background:In...
http://www.kimsoft.com/2004/samil-declaration.htm, patterned after the American version
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
, was read by teachers and civic leaders in tens of thousands of villages throughout Korea: “Today marks the declaration of Korean independence. There will be peaceful demonstrations all over Korea. If our meetings are orderly and peaceful, we shall receive the help of President Wilson and the great powers at Versailles, and Korea will be a free nation.” Japan repressed independence movement by military power. In one well attested incident, villagers were herded into the local church which was then set on fire. The official Japanese count of casualties include 553 killed, 1,409 injured, and 12,522 arrested, but the Korean estimates are much higher: over 7,500 killed, about 15,000 injured, and 45,000 arrested.
Comfort Women
While estimates vary, Korea states that many Korean women were kidnapped and coerced by the Japanese authorities into military prostitution, euphemistically called "comfort womenComfort women
The term "comfort women" was a euphemism used to describe women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 from some Japanese scholars to as high as 410,000 from some Chinese...
" (위안부, wianbu). http://www.comfort-women.org/ Some Japanese historians, such as Yoshiaki Yoshimi
Yoshiaki Yoshimi
is a professor of Japanese modern history at Chuo University in Tokyo, Japan. Yoshimi is a founder member of the Center for Research and Documentation on Japan's war responsibility...
, using the diaries and testimonies of military officials as well as official documents from Japan and archives of the Tokyo tribunal, have argued that the Imperial Japanese military
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
was either directly or indirectly involved in coercing, deceiving, luring, and sometimes kidnapping young women throughout Japan’s Asian colonies and occupied territories
Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was a concept created and promulgated during the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It represented the desire to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers"...
. However Japanese historian Ikuhiko Hata stated that there was no organized forced recruitment of comfort women by Japanese government or military. http://hassin.sejp.net/Hata-Ianfu_text.pdf
Contemporary issues
Generally North Korea-based anti-Japanese sentiment is understood to be fueled by Communist propaganda from the government, thus attempts to measure it among ordinary people is impossible given the country's political system. The following statements thus apply to South Korea only.Current situation in the South
A 2000 CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
ASIANOW article described popularity of Japanese culture among younger South Koreans as "unsettling" for older Southerners who remember the occupation by the Japanese.
In the South, collaborators
Chinilpa
Chinilpa is a Korean word that denotes Koreans who collaborated with the Japanese government during its reign over Korea , or shortly before...
to the Japanese colonial government
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
, called chinilpa
Chinilpa
Chinilpa is a Korean word that denotes Koreans who collaborated with the Japanese government during its reign over Korea , or shortly before...
(친일파), are generally recognized as national traitors. The South Korean National Assembly passed the Special law to redeem pro-Japanese collaborators' property
Special law to redeem pro-Japanese collaborators' property
The special law to redeem pro-Japanese collaborators' property is a special South Korean law that passed the South Korean National Assembly on December 8, 2005 and was enacted on December 29, 2005...
on December 8, 2005 and the law was enacted on December 29, 2005. In 2006, The National Assembly of South Korea formed a Committee for the Inspection of Property of Japan Collaborators. The aim was to reclaim property inappropriately gained by cooperation with the Japanese government during colonialization. The project was expected to satisfy Koreans' demands that property acquired by collaborators under the Japanese colonial authorities be returned.
While some Koreans expressed hope that former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
Yukio Hatoyama
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan....
would handle Japanese-Korean relations in a more agreeable fashion that previous conservative administrations, a small group of protesters in Seoul held an anti-Japanese rallying on October 8, 2009 previous to his arrival. The protests called for Japanese apologies for World War II incidents and included destruction of a Japanese flag.
Japanese textbook revisionism
Anti-Japanese sentiment is also due to the Japanese government's textbook revisionismJapanese history textbook controversies
Japanese history textbook controversies refers to controversial content in government-approved history textbooks used in the secondary education of Japan...
. On June 26, 1982 the textbook screening process in Japan came under scrutiny when the media of Japan and its neighboring countries gave extensive coverage to changes required by the Minister of Education
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japan)
The , also known as MEXT or Monkashō, is one of the ministries of the Japanese government.The Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871....
. Experts from the ministry sought to soften textbook references to Japanese aggression before and during World War II. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937, for example, was modified to "advance." Passages describing the fall of Nanking justified the Japanese atrocities by describing the acts as a result of Chinese provocations. Pressure from China successfully led the Ministry of Education to adopt a new authorization criterion - the "Neighboring Country Clause" (近隣諸国条項) - stating: "textbooks ought to show understanding and seek international harmony in their treatment of modern and contemporary historical events involving neighboring Asian countries."
In 2006, Japanese textbooks wrote that the Liancourt Rocks
Liancourt Rocks
The Liancourt Rocks, also known as Dokdo or Tokto in Korean or in Japanese, are a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan . Sovereignty over the islets is disputed between Japan and South Korea...
is Japanese territory. The head of the South Korean Ministry of Education, Kim Shinil, sent a letter of protest to Bunmei Ibuki
Bunmei Ibuki
is a Japanese politician. He is a Member of the House of Representatives serving the constituency of Kyoto Prefecture, 1st district, where, as of October 2006, he has been elected eight times. He was the Secretary General of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party from 2007 to 2008...
, the Minister of Education, on May 9, 2007. In a speech marking the 88th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM GCB was the 16th President of South Korea .Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his...
called for Japan to correct their school textbooks on controversial topics ranging from "inhumane rape of comfort women
Comfort women
The term "comfort women" was a euphemism used to describe women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 from some Japanese scholars to as high as 410,000 from some Chinese...
" to "the Korean ownership of the Liancourt Rocks
Liancourt Rocks
The Liancourt Rocks, also known as Dokdo or Tokto in Korean or in Japanese, are a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan . Sovereignty over the islets is disputed between Japan and South Korea...
".
National relations
Yasuhiro NakasoneYasuhiro Nakasone
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from November 27, 1982 to November 6, 1987. A contemporary of Brian Mulroney, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, François Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, and Mikhail Gorbachev, he is best known for pushing through the privatization of...
discontinued visits to Yasukuni Shrine
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of...
due to the People's Republic of China's requests in 1986. However, Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics when his term in parliament ended.Widely seen as a maverick leader of the Liberal Democratic Party , he became known as an economic reformer, focusing on Japan's government debt and the...
resumed visits to Yasukuni Shrine
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of...
on August 13, 2001. He visited the shrine six times as Prime Minister, stating that he was "paying homage to the servicemen who died for defense of Japan." These visits drew strong condemnation and protests from Japan's neighbors, mainly China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
As a result, China and South Korea refused to meet with Koizumi, and there were no mutual visits between Chinese and Japanese leaders after October 2001 and between South Korean and Japanese leaders after June 2005. Former President of South Korea
President of South Korea
The President of the Republic of Korea is, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, chief executive of the government, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the head of state of the Republic of Korea...
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM GCB was the 16th President of South Korea .Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his...
suspended all summit talks between South Korea and Japan.
Education
A large number of anti-Japanese images made by school children from Gyeyang Middle School, many of which depicting acts of violence against Japan, were displayed in Gyulhyeon Station as part of a school art project.According to a survey conducted by Korean Immigrant Workers Human Rights Center in 2006, 34.1% of the primary school students in Incheon
Incheon
The Incheon Metropolitan City is located in northwestern South Korea. The city was home to just 4,700 people when Jemulpo port was built in 1883. Today 2.76 million people live in the city, making it Korea’s third most populous city after Seoul and Busan Metropolitan City...
region answered that "Japanese should be expelled from Korea" and the rate was considerably higher compared to Chinese (8.7%), black Africans (8.7%), East Asians (5.0%), black Americans (4.3%), and white Americans (2.3%).
Professor Park Cheol-Hee of Gyeongin National University of Education pointed out that there were many descriptions regarding other nations as inferior to emphasize the superiority of Korean culture, and Japan is consistently described as culturally inferior.
A survey found that 60% middle school students and 51% of high school students in South Korea view the descriptions about Japan and China in the current Korean history textbooks as biased.
Appearance in South Korean popular culture
- The General's Son (장군의 아들; Janggun eui Adeul) - 1990 movie set in Korea under Japanese rule, in which Kim Du-hanKim Du-hanKim Du-han, also spelled Kim Doo Han was the son of Kim Jwa-Jin, a famous Korean freedom fighter, and was elected to the third parliament in 1954 and joined Rhee's Liberal Party where he served as a politician after the era of Japanese occupation in Korea. He was also elected to the sixth...
(then a gangster) attacks Japanese yakuzaYakuza, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
. Two sequels were released in 1991 and 1992. - Virus Imjin War (바이러스 임진왜란; Baireoseu Imjin Waeran) - 1990 novel by Lee Sun-Soo (이성수). Japan tries to invade Korea using biological warfareBiological warfareBiological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
named HideyoshiToyotomi Hideyoshiwas a daimyo warrior, general and politician of the Sengoku period. He unified the political factions of Japan. He succeeded his former liege lord, Oda Nobunaga, and brought an end to the Sengoku period. The period of his rule is often called the Momoyama period, named after Hideyoshi's castle...
Virus only to fail. - The Mugunghwa Has Bloomed (무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다; Mugunghwa ggoti pieotseubnida) - A popular novelist Gim Jinmyeong (김진명) wrote this novel in 1993. (Mugunghwa, known as Hibiscus syriacusHibiscus syriacusHibiscus syriacus is a widely cultivated ornamental shrub in the genus Hibiscus. Common names include Rose of Sharon , Shrub Althea and Rose Althea.-Growth:...
, is the national flower of South Korea.) In this novel, North and South Korea together develop a nuclear weapon, which is dropped off the coast of Japan as a symbolic warning. This novel was criticized for a blatantly inaccurate depiction of Korean-American particle physicist Benjamin W. LeeBenjamin W. LeeBenjamin Whisoh Lee or Ben Lee, was a Korean-American theoretical physicist...
(Lee Whiso 이휘소) as a nationalistic nuclear physicist; in this novel, Lee cuts his own leg flesh in order to hide the blueprint of a nuclear weapon, which is secretly transferred to the South Korean government. Lee's family sued Kim for defamation. The novel became a major bestseller, and was made into a film in 1995. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0308606/) - Phantom: The Submarine - A movie in which a secret South Korean nuclear submarine falls under the mercy of a charismatic half-mad captain, who attempts to carpet Japanese cities with nuclear weapons. This movie won six "Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
" in South Korea in 1999. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0226663/) - There Is No Japan (일본은 없다; Ilboneun Eopta) - Travelogue written by Grand National PartyGrand National PartyThe Grand National Party is a conservative political party in South Korea. Its Korean name, Hannara, has a double meaning as "Great National" and "Korean National." The GNP holds a majority of seats in the 18th Assembly, lasting from 2008 to 2012....
spokeswoman Jeon Yeook (전여옥) in 1994, based upon her experiences in Japan as a KBS correspondent. She compares South Korea with Japan, praises South Korean excellence, and describes the Japanese as an incapable people. - Hyeomillyu (혐일류; The Hate Japan Wave) - Korean cartoonist Yang Byeong-seol's (양병설) response to the book Manga KenkanryuManga Kenkanryu, translated in English as Hating the Korean Wave or Hate Korea: A Comic is a controversial Japanese manga written by Sharin Yamano with the theme of Korean-Japanese disputes and anti-Korean sentiment in Japan...
(The Hating Korea Wave). - Hanbando (한반도) - The South Korea government exposes the misinterpretation of the history of Japanese Government, and Japanese Government does the apology and compensation to a South Korea.
- Nambul: War StoriesNambul: War StoriesNambul: War Stories is a manhwa series of the military drama genre written by Lee Hyun-se which started in 1994. The story relates from various levels an imaginary conflict between Korea and Japan at an unspecified time in the near future...
(남벌) - Nambul is a manhwaManhwaManhwa is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons . Outside of Korea, the term usually refers specifically to South Korean comics. The term, along with manga, is a cognate of the Chinese manhua...
series of the military drama genre written by Lee Hyun-se which started in 1994. The story relates from various levels (political to personal) an imaginary conflict between Korea and Japan at an unspecified time in the near future.
See also
- Anti-Japanese propaganda
- Korea under Japanese ruleKorea under Japanese ruleKorea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
- Sea of Japan naming disputeSea of Japan naming disputeThe international name for the body of water which is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia, and South Korea is disputed. The Japanese government supports the use of the name "Sea of Japan", while South Korea supports the name "East Sea", and North Korea supports the name "East Sea of Korea"...
- Liancourt Rocks disputeLiancourt Rocks disputeThe Liancourt Rocks dispute is a territorial dispute between the Republic of Korea and Japan.Currently both the Republic of Korea and Japan claim sovereignty over Liancourt Rocks, a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan...
- Japanese history textbook controversiesJapanese history textbook controversiesJapanese history textbook controversies refers to controversial content in government-approved history textbooks used in the secondary education of Japan...
- Voluntary Agency Network of Korea
- Hetalia Axis Powers
- Japan–Korea disputes