Suspended Japan`s Cultural Market Opening and Military Exchange

As the first countermeasure against the Japanese rejection to rectify its distorted textbooks, Korean government decided to suspend the opening of the Japan`s cultural products market. And the government also will cancel the pre-scheduled visit of the chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Cho Young-Gil, to Japan and will not allow the Japanese battle ships, including an escort ship (3500 ton) and a training ship (4040 ton), to come into the Incheon Harbor.

Kim Han-Gil, Culture and Tourism Minister, said ``the opening of the Japanese cultural products market was implemented based on the mutual credibility and therefore it cannot be separated from the matter of the Japanese distorted historical textbooks. The government will not consider any additional opening of the Japanese cultural products until Japan carries out a proper measures.``

Consequently, the additional opening of the Japanese cultural products, such as Japanese music discs, entertainment programs, adult videos and movie, animations that have not won an international prize, movies that have not been played in Korea, video games, are suspended.

Regarding the suspension of the Korea-Japan military exchange, the vice-director of the policy planning bureau of the Defense Ministry, Jang Kwang-Il, said that ``the battle ship exchange is an important event, symbolizing the military exchange of the two countries. We reject the entry of the navigating Japanese warships into the Incheon Harbor unless Japan changes its position.``

The government held general meetings for the countermeasures against the distorted Japanese textbooks at Sejong Hall in Sejong Center for the Performing Arts and decided to announce the first countermeasures soon by the related departments.

The countermeasures of the government include the suspension and reduction of the Korea-Japan military and security cooperation, the denunciation of the Japanese distorted textbooks in the international conference such as the UN and the UNESCO, and the adoption of the resolution to urge the rectification.

Meanwhile, 213 chairpersons of the Korean communities from 50 countries in the world adopted a five-article resolution at the second meeting of the World Korean Societies Chairperson Meeting. The resolution urged the Japanese government for the rectification of the distorted textbooks based on the historical facts and determined their best effort to correct the misconceptions of the residential countries to Korea.

Lee Kwawg-Pyo kplee@donga.com