PM Abe Apologizes to Comfort Women

| April 22, 2007 | China, Japan, Korea-General Topics | 8 Comments

So does anyone think this apology will make as many headlines as the deliberate New York Times mistranslation did of Abe’s off the cuff comment about the comfort women last month?:

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday expressed regrets that his country’s military forced women into sexual slavery during World War II.

The remark, made in an interview with a weekly U.S. news magazine on the eve of his visit to the United States, may have been aimed at mending fences. The premier has been criticized by many countries for claiming there is no evidence that the Japanese military took any part in the forced recruitment of the so-called comfort women to serve its troops who invaded Asian countries.

"As Japan’s prime minister, I’m extremely sorry that they were made to endure such pain," Abe told Newsweek. The Japanese leader reiterated that his government respected and stood by a statement by former Chief Cabinet Minister Yohei Kono in 1993 that apologized for the Japanese military’s involvement in the use of women as sexual slaves.

Any bets when the first pundit comes out and claims this apology "isn’t sincere enough"?  I doubt this apology will even appease Congressman Honda who is playing up this issue for domestic political support from his Korean-American voting base.  He is going to keep playing this out for every last vote from political base just like Korean politicians back in Korea will keep doing the same thing. 

I do have a question for Congressman Honda though.  When is he going to start writing a bill to harass Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to apologize for the 20-30 million Chinese that died during the Great Leap forward, the up to 500,000 who died during the Cultural Revolution, or the 2,000-3000 civilians who were gunned down by the Chinese military at Tianamen Square.  What about an apology to the people of Korea for the Chinese intervention into the Korean War that killed up to a million Korean civilians and ensured the continued division of the country to this day?  How about another apology for the continuing human rights abuses of Chinese peasants and the sexual slavery of North Korean women?  Expect no bill on these issues because Congressman Honda considers these incidents as nothing more than "historical blemishes".

I do have to give China some credit because Chinese Premier Wen appears to be trying mend some fences with Japan with this week’s visit to the country.  Via Ampontan here’s some of what he said:

  • “Japan formally admitted to wartime aggression and expressed deep remorse and apology, and the Chinese government and people high credit to Japan for it.”
  • “China will not forget Japan’s assistance and support as the country reformed and modernized.”
  • He described the two countries’ economic relationship as “mutually complementary” to a significant extent.

So does anyone think President Roh will make an announcement similar to this after yet another apology from the Japanese government?  I doubt it, especially with this year’s presidential election coming up; Japan bashing will be en vogue for at least the rest of the year.  If any mending of fences with Japan is to occur it will have to be after the presidential election and will last until a run up to another election.  That is how the cycle works and will continue.

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Peter Pan
Peter Pan
17 years ago

And then there was one.

As soon as Koizumi stepped down, China started working for better relations. He had announced that he was stepping down, they knew the date, so they got in all the punches they could, because they knew that they could just blame poor relations on him and start over with whomever came into office next.

Considering their motives seemed to be purely politically based, and not justice based (for example the hypocrisy you speak of), they aren't playing the political game very well. Korea would be better to do like China, to look towards the future, and not the past, because the future is going to leave you behind while you're looking back dwelling on things that can not be changed. And that has happened, as Sino-Japanese relations appear to be on the up, and Japan-Korea relations just keep getting lower.

The only real hope is if whomever is elected next president tries to make things turn for the better, but if Anti-Japan isn't a primary point in his/her platform, he'll/she'll never get elected.

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jion999
jion999
17 years ago

China and Korea form a united front to criticize Japan often. However, the realities of the anti-Japan policy for China and Korea are very different.

China exploits anti-Japan sentiment of Chinese people as a diplomatic weapon against Japan. It is also useful to unite a nation and conceal its domestic problems. Because there is no freedom of press in china, it is possible for Chinese government to control the information and modulate public opinion. When Koizumi was a prime minister, China fueled people's indignation against Japan. It didn't work and china was criticized internationally. Then Chine changed the tactics to good- neighbor policy, and modulates anti-Japan sentiment of people to calm down.

Diplomacy of Korea is very different from China’s.

Anti-Japan sentiment of Korean people fueled by the education of biased history for jingoism and national pride after the independence has gone into overdrive and even the government or media can’t control it.

Korean politicians can’t help making anti-Japan a primary point for elections in spite of knowing the good relationship with Japan is very important for Korea.

Korean media can’t help making anti-Japan a primary opinion of its paper in spite of knowing it is wrong.

Because there is a freedom of press in Korea, not like China, Korean government can’t modulate public opinion.

Hence, anti-Japan sentiment of Korea self-propagates day by day and destroys its relationship with Japan.

So does anti-US sentiment, of course.

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ZERO
17 years ago

[…] “We are responsible for situations in which they had to serve as comfort women,” Abe said. He also said that as human being, he felt pity for them from the bottom of his heart. “As a prime minister, I feel truly sorry for them.”Abe said his past remarks to the effect that the Japanese military didn’t force women to become sex slaves is in line with the Japanese government’s official view. But he also said that his Cabinet stood by the 1993 statement by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, which admitted the Japanese military’s involvement in the issue and expressed an apology.April 21, 2007/maihichiAnd an interesting analysis of it.Rok drop……………………………………………………………………..4月21æ—¥15時1分配信 時事通信　安倍晋三首相は26日からの初訪米を控え、米ニューズウィーク誌とウォール・ストリート・ジャーナル紙のインタビューに応じた。首相は従軍慰安婦問題について「当時の慰安婦の方々に心から同情するし、日本の首相として大変申し訳ない」と改めて謝罪。「歴史に常に謙虚でなければならない。慰安婦として存在しなければならなかった状況について、われわれは責任があると考えている」と述べ、軍の関与を含め日本側に責任があるとの認識を表明した。　首相はこれまで、慰安婦問題を謝罪した1993年の河野洋平官房長官談話を政権として継承する立場を繰り返し強調。今年3月には元慰安婦へのおわびも表明したが、日本の「責任」を明言したのは初めて。人権問題に敏感な米国で「狭義の強制性」を否定した首相らの言動が反発を招いたことから、訪米を前に沈静化を図る狙いがある。jiji首相「慰安婦問題は人権侵害」、責任認め改めて米誌で謝罪4月21æ—¥14時0分配信 読売新聞　安倍首相は、２６日からの訪米に先立ち米ニューズウィーク誌のインタビューに応じ、いわゆる従軍慰安婦問題について「慰安婦の方々に人間として心から同情する。日本の首相として大変申し訳ないと思っている」と改めて謝罪した。　さらに、「２０世紀は人権が世界各地で侵害された世紀で、日本にもその責任があり、例外ではない」と述べ、慰安婦問題を人権問題と位置づけ、日本の責任を明確に認めた。　また、「我々は歴史に常に謙虚でなければならない。彼女たちが慰安婦として存在しなければならなかった状況に我々は責任がある」と語ったうえ、１９９３年の河野洋平官房長官談話を継承する考えを重ねて表明した。訪米を前に、米メディアの批判の鎮静化を図ったものだ。 最終更新:4月21æ—¥14時0分yomiuri ＜安倍首相＞従軍慰安婦で日本の責任認める　米メディアに4月21æ—¥13時13分配信 毎日新聞　安倍晋三首相は、今月末の訪米を前に米国メディアの取材に応じ、いわゆる従軍慰安婦問題について「人間として心から同情する。首相として大変申し訳なく思っている」と改めて陳謝したうえで「彼女たちが慰安婦として存在しなければならなかった状況につき、我々は責任がある」と述べ、日本側に責任があるとの認識を示した。　米誌ニューズウィークと米紙ウォールストリート・ジャーナルの取材に首相官邸で１７日、それぞれ答えた。慰安婦問題については首相の「（旧日本軍による）狭義の強制性を裏付けるものはなかった」との発言に米国内から批判が出ており、首相は今月３日のブッシュ大統領との電話協議でも見解を説明、先月の国会答弁で「同情とおわび」に言及するなどしていた。今回の発言は日本側の「責任」も指摘することで、沈静化

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Japanese upper lip too stiff, says Brit ambassador « AMPONTAN
17 years ago

[…] lip too stiff, says Brit ambassadorJames A on Japanese upper lip too stiff, says Brit ambassadorPM Abe Apologizes to Comfort Women at ROK Drop on Japan’s Prime Minister Abe: Moving from one success to […]

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[GI Korea] PM Abe Apologizes to Comfort Women - USFK Forums
17 years ago

[…] [GI Korea] PM Abe Apologizes to Comfort Women Published: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 21:43:43 +0000 So does anyone think this apology will make as many headlines as the deliberate New York Times mistranslation did of Abe’s off the cuff comment about the comfort women last month?: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday expressed regrets that his country’s military forced women into sexual slavery during World War II. The remark, made […] Read More… […]

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Tom
Tom
17 years ago

Typical. Say one thing to foreigners abroad, then say entirely something different to Japanese at home. Of course it's not sincere.

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Japan News for April 23, 2007 » Japan Probe
17 years ago

[…] ROK Drop wonders if the international media will once again ignore/downplay Japan’s latest comfort women apology in favor of the popular views of Japan’s apologies being not “sincere enough.” [Link] […]

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