Memo Reports Strain Korea-Japan Ties

In response to media reports of an internal Japanese Foreign Ministry document claiming that President Roh Moo-hyun will maintain an anti-Japanese stance in order to avoid being labeled a lame duck president, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday that the government would take “stern countermeasures.”

“The government has asked for a confirmation or denial of the report through the Japanese embassy in Seoul,” Ban said at a press briefing.

Ban expressed deep regret that even when the relations have deteriorated due to Japan’s distorted view of history, Japan has depicted Korea as politicizing the strained relation between Korea and Japan into a domestic political issue. “The report dismisses the Korean government’s efforts to improve relations,” he said.

Ban took particular issue to the implication that Korea is using the Dokdo issue to fan nationalistic sentiment, saying, “I feel anger as a Korean at the Japanese government which describes our claiming sovereignty of Dokdo as a hard-line anti-Japanese policy.”

“The report stated as if we have differences in foreign policy toward Japan within the government. But we have pursued our foreign policy about Japan consistently,” said Ban. He called for Japan to think who is responsible for the strained relations between Korea and Japan and to act wisely and righteously.

At the daily meeting in Cheong Wa Dae held by Lee Byung-wan, chief secretary, the participants agreed that if this report was true, a stern diplomatic reaction should take place, said Choi In-ho, Cheong Wa Dae deputy spokesperson.

The report allegedly written by the Foreign Ministry of Japan contains analyses of the Japanese government on the Korean government’s foreign policies in relation to Dokdo and the Japanese prime minister’s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine where class A war criminals are honored along with the Japanese war dead.

It predicted, “the Roh administration will stick to its anti-Japanese hard-line policies during the remaining two years in office to overcome the president’s low approval rating,” and described the Korean government’s opening of Dokdo to tourists as an act of violent demonstration.

Yeon-Wook Jung jyw11@donga.com