Category: Japan

Here is some analysis on what Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s statement of regret for Korean forced laborers during World War II means:

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Sunday that he felt “strong pain” in his heart when he thought of the suffering of the Korean victims of forced labor during his country’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

In carefully selected words, he expressed sympathy for the Koreans at a press conference in Seoul after his summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, acknowledging “the extreme difficulty and sorrow that many people had to suffer under the harsh environment in those days.”

Kishida’s remarks suggest both his determination to improve Korea-Japan relations and how far he was willing to go in that effort, given his political climate at home, according to experts, Monday.

“In his famous 2015 address [marking 70 years since Japan’s defeat in World War II], former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his administration would not let their future generations ‘be predestined to apologize’ ― a position from which Kishida is not free. This is why Kishida said he would carry forward the positions on colonial-era history of Japan’s previous cabinets during Yoon’s visit to Japan in March,” Shin Kak-soo, former vice foreign minister and former Korean ambassador to Japan, told The Korea Times. “In that sense, his comment this time is a step forward.”

The former ambassador said that Kishida ― under pressure from both Korea and the conservative wing of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, which rejects any form of concession ― appeared to have expressed his stance by sophisticatedly using restrained terms.

“From what I heard, Japan’s foreign ministry opposed the idea [of expressing his sympathy]. That means Kishida made his own political decision,” he added.

Jin Chang-soo, an expert on Japan at the Sejong Institute, a think tank, agreed.

“There is a wide political consensus in Japan that it should stop apologizing to Koreans over historical issues,” Jin said. “Given the situation, I think Kishida’s remarks, though insufficient, helped make progress in rapprochement.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but apology fatigue in Japan is a real thing. Additionally the fact that Japan has made apologies and concessions in the past to just have the Korean administration change and rip up prior agreements and make new demands is something President Yoon will have to convince PM Kishida will not happen this time before any larger concessions are made.

Here is what Japanese Prime Minister Kishida has offered President Yoon during their bilateral summit:

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took steps Sunday to reciprocate President Yoon Suk Yeol’s commitment to improving bilateral ties, as he accepted a South Korean team’s inspection of the planned release of radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant and acknowledged the past pain of Koreans under Japanese colonial rule.

The water release and Japan’s attitude about its 1910-45 colonial occupation were the main points that were closely watched as Yoon and Kishida held their second summit in less than two months to add momentum to the recent warming of bilateral ties.

The thaw began in March after the Yoon administration decided to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without the involvement of Japanese firms, a decision Kishida lauded as “courageous.”

Kishida returned the goodwill Sunday by announcing he will accept a visit by a team of South Korean experts to inspect the planned release of the contaminated water.

Amid South Korean calls for a sincere apology, he also acknowledged the pain of forced labor victims.

“My heart aches over the fact that many people had an extremely painful and sad experience in harsh conditions at the time,” he said, before adding he was speaking in a personal capacity.

Critics said the remark still falls short of a direct apology.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but they can add this apology to this ever growing list of apologies that the Korean left is still not happy with.

I really think the biggest obstacle to major gains in bilateral relations is going to be how does President Yoon convince Kishida that anything they agree to will actually last after he leaves office? The Japanese have seen so many agreements get reneged on after a new person takes over the Presidency that is why they are probably going to be very cautious before agreeing to any major deals:

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives at Seoul Air Base, south of Seoul, on May 7, 2023. (Yonhap)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol, marking the full-scale resumption of “shuttle diplomacy” between the two countries’ leaders after 12 years.

Kishida’s visit comes as bilateral relations have warmed significantly following Seoul’s decision in March to compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor without contributions from Japanese firms.

Yoon traveled to Tokyo 10 days after the decision was announced and held a summit with Kishida as the first South Korean president to pay a bilateral visit to Japan in 12 years.

Kishida’s two-day visit is also the first bilateral visit by a Japanese leader in 12 years, marking the full-scale resumption of “shuttle diplomacy,” or regular mutual visits, as agreed between Yoon and Kishida during their summit in Tokyo in March.

Upon arrival, the Japanese prime minister headed to Seoul National Cemetery and paid his respects to Korea’s fallen independence fighters and war veterans.

Later in the day, he will hold a summit with Yoon at the presidential office, hold a joint news conference, and then have dinner with Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee at the official presidential residence, according to diplomatic sources.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but that was a very symbolic move by Kishida to pay his respects at the National Cemetery.

Here is another development in the improving ties between South Korea and Japan:

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to visit South Korea later this month, in what appears to be a move to gain the upper hand over Seoul in trilateral relations between South Korea, Japan and the U.S.

Citing multiple government officials from both the South Korean and Japanese governments, Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday that the prime minister will visit Seoul from May 7 to 8. It will be his first trip to South Korea since taking office.

The newspaper reported that the visit is aimed at responding to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to Japan in March, during which the South Korean leader showed his willingness to improve chilled bilateral relations. 

The South Korean presidential office did not confirm this, but admitted that “consultations are ongoing” over the prime minister’s visit to South Korea.

If it takes place, the visit will be the first by a Japanese prime minister since February 2018, when Shinzo Abe made one on the occasion of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics here. In terms of bilateral diplomacy, however, it will be the first visit since October 2011, when Yoshihiko Noda visited Seoul for a summit with then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is a very unfortunate accident that cost the life of a Japanese Army Division Commander who was doing his first battlefield circulation around Japan’s southwest islands:

An X marks the spot where a section of the crashed Japanese army helicopter’s fuselage and five bodies were discovered north of Irabu Island on Thursday, April 13, 2023. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)

Search parties recovered two more bodies Monday from the submerged wreckage of a Japanese military helicopter that crashed in the East China Sea nearly two weeks ago with 10 aboard, including a lieutenant general.

Four victims’ remains have been brought up since Sunday from the site in 350 feet of water just offshore of Irabu Island, southwest of Okinawa. The UH-60JA Black Hawk of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force disappeared from radar at 3:56 p.m. April 6 during a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport.

Japanese divers recovered one body Monday morning and the other several hours later, a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force spokesman told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. Japanese authorities have yet to identify any of the recovered bodies. 

Just one body remains in a section of the Black Hawk’s fuselage discovered Sunday morning, the spokesman said. The remaining five individuals aboard the helicopter are unaccounted for.

The Black Hawk was on a reconnaissance flight 11 miles northwest of Miyako Airport when it went down with a mixed crew aboard, including Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force’s 8th Division; five members of the division’s headquarters staff; four members of the Air Self-Defense Force’s 8th Wing; and a member of Camp Miyako’s security force.

Sakamoto, 55, was appointed division commander March 31. He previously served as commander of the 12th Brigade.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is pretty wild that just months after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated that someone has attempted to kill current Prime Minister Kishida as well:

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was evacuated unharmed Saturday after someone threw an explosive device in his direction while he was campaigning at a fishing port in western Japan, officials said. Police wrestled a suspect to the ground as screaming bystanders scrambled to get away and smoke filled the air.

One police officer was slightly hurt and Kishida continued campaigning Saturday, but the chaotic scene was reminiscent of the assassination nine months ago of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which also came on a campaign tour and continues to reverberate in Japanese politics. Kishida was visiting Saikazaki port in Wakayama prefecture to support his ruling party’s candidate in a local election, and the explosion occurred just before he was to begin his speech.

A young man believed to be a suspect was arrested Saturday at the scene after he allegedly threw “the suspicious object,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. Matsuno refused to comment on the suspect’s motive and background, saying police are still investigating.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but no word yet on what this guy’s motive was for trying to kill Prime Minister Kishida. ROK Heads may remember the guy that killed Shinzo Abe was motivated by how the Korean Unification Church wiped out all the savings from his mother leaving him with no inheritance. Abe had ties to the church and the man killed Abe as revenge against the church.

I have been very critical about the claim of altitude sickness being the cause of the crash that killed two Japanese civilians by a U.S. naval officer. After reading this really good article from Military.com about the accident, I am more convinced then ever he just simply fell asleep at wheel:

Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis was driving his car, filled with his wife and their three children, down from the heights of Mount Fuji on May 29, 2021. It’s an iconic destination for both Japanese and foreign tourists alike, a peak that serves as a sentry over much of central Japan.

Alkonis and his family had taken the trip at the request of his second daughter, spending an hour near the summit before planning to go to a dairy farm in the foothills that sells pizza and ice cream.

As they descended the mountain, Alkonis felt something was wrong but chose to keep going because they were very close to the next town, he would later testify at his trial.

He lost consciousness right as the vehicle approached a roadside noodle restaurant, swerving into the parking lot and hitting three parked cars, pushing one into a fourth vehicle, before crashing into a fifth and final car. Between the layers of metal, two Japanese nationals, an 85-year-old woman and her 54-year-old son-in-law, were crushed. They both died.

Two members of the Alkonis family were taken to a local hospital, but the sailor himself did not receive medical attention. All have made a full recovery. Today, Alkonis sits in a Japanese prison, serving a three-year sentence after being convicted of negligent driving.

That’s the part of the story that no one disputes. It’s the other parts — why Alkonis lost consciousness, how he’s been treated in Japanese custody — that have drawn in lawmakers, led to accusations of a “false” conviction, and even put pressure on the legal agreement that governs U.S. service members’ presence in Japan.

Military.com

The big thing to take from this passage is that he did not even go to the summit of Mt. Fuji which has an altitude of over 12,600 feet. Instead he just drove to one of the stations where hikes begin at about 7,000 feet. People travel to cities like Colorado Springs in the U.S. that is near 7,000 feet every day and you don’t see them crashing vehicles due to altitude sickness.

Additionally the accident happened in Fujinomiya which is almost near sea level. Altitude sickness gets better when losing altitude not worse. I think he got up early to drive to Mt. Fuji from his home in Yokosuka and simply feel asleep at the wheel after a long day of driving.

I highly recommend reading the rest of the article because the claims made by his wife and her Congressional supporters conflict with the facts of the case. The Japanese put a big emphasis on self responsibility and all the excuses is probably why he will not be released early.

It is official now that the GSOMIA has now been restored between Tokyo and Seoul:

South Korea on Tuesday fully restored its military intelligence-sharing pact with Tokyo, the foreign ministry said, as part of efforts to thaw long-frozen ties following a recent bilateral summit.

South Korea sent an official letter to Japan earlier in the day via diplomatic channels informing of its decision to fully restore the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) between the neighbors, the ministry said.

Signed in 2016, GSOMIA was seen as a rare symbol of security cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo before the former administration of President Moon Jae-in decided to terminate it in 2019 in protest of Japan’s export restrictions against South Korea.

The decision to suspend the pact was later put on hold, but the amount of information sharing between the neighboring countries is thought to have been limited, as their relations remained strained over disputes stemming from Japan’s colonial rule.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The usual suspects out protesting increasingly cooperation between South Korea and Japan:

Political strife escalated Saturday over the recent South Korea-Japan summit, as the liberal opposition took to the streets blasting President Yoon Suk Yeol for cozying up to Tokyo and looking past historical disputes on wartime forced labor. 

Yoon held a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Thursday to mend ties strained by historical disputes stemming from Japan’s colonization of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. 

Earlier this month, South Korea announced its plan to compensate the victims of wartime forced labor through a foundation with donations from domestic companies and not the accused Japanese firms, a move opposed by the victims, opposition parties and activists.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but where were these activists and protesters when the last Korean president Moon Jae-in was cozying up to Kim Jong-un? He is in charge of regime that has killed far more Koreans than Imperial Japan could ever dream of. Additionally Kim Jong-un is in charge of regime that continues to regularly threaten South Korea with annihilation and enslaves a large amount of Koreans in labor camps among other human rights violations.

Yet these activists are more concerned about stopping cooperation with a country that actually wants to help South Korea defend itself from annihilation from North Korea. This is despite Japan’s transgressions happening 75+ years ago that they have repeatedly apologized and made compensation for. Where is North Korea’s apologies and compensation for all the destruction and deaths they have committed against South Korea in the 75+ years since World War II?

When the Korean left starts making demands for apologies and compensation from North Korea then maybe I will take their claims against Japan seriously.