Category: Japan

This is clearly just more anti-Japanese stir of the pot in South Korea. This commercial makes absolutely no reference to anything in regards to comfort women:

The Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has pulled an ad from South Korean TV after it was accused of mocking victims of wartime sexual slavery.

The company said it had stopped airing the 15-second ad after critics pointed out that the Korean-language subtitles appeared to question the testimony of women who said they were forced to work in Japanese military brothels across Asia before and during the second world war. (……)

In the ad, the 97-year-old model Iris Apfel is asked by the 13-year-old designer Kheris Rogers how she dressed when she was her age. Apfel replies: “I can’t remember that far back.” But the version with Korean subtitles gave Apfel’s reply as: “Oh my God, how can I remember what happened more than 80 years ago?”

The Korea Herald said some viewers interpreted the time reference as an attempt to ridicule former sex slaves and forced labourers, whose recollections of abuses have been questioned by rightwing politicians and academics in Japan.

The Guardian

You can read more at the link, but this company is trying to sell clothes to Koreans, do people really think they would make a commercial to ridicule Korean comfort women?

As I have been saying the Korean left in order to help their parliamentary election chances next year, have to keep stirring the pot of anti-Japanese in South Korea. Continue to expect every little thing they can sensationalize or just make up to stir anti-Japanese sentiment to continue.

It will be interesting to see what happens with this meeting. With President Moon greatly sliding in the pools I expect he will turn to nationalism to try and stop the slide. Cutting a deal with the Japanese would then not be in his political interest. Could Lee be going to Japan to offer Abe a deal they know he will not accept just for the domestic political impact in South Korea?:

South Korea’s Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon is expected to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe next Thursday in what would be the highest-level talks between the two countries since Tokyo imposed export curbs in a deepening trade and diplomatic spat, Seoul officials said on Friday.

Lee is scheduled to visit Tokyo for Oct. 22-24 to attend Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony on behalf of President Moon Jae-in.

Both sides are trying to finalize a meeting between Lee and Abe on Oct. 24 following a banquet hosted by Abe the day before, Lee’s office said in a statement.

Reuters

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the ROK is trying to play nice with Japan. I guess we will see if leads to any positive developments:

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon is scheduled to visit Tokyo next week to attend the Japanese emperor’s enthronement event, his office said Sunday, in what is seen as a move to mend soured relations between the two neighbors.

Lee will visit Japan from Oct. 22-24 for the ceremony, according to a statement by the prime minister’s office. His itinerary includes the enthronement event on Oct. 22 followed by a banquet hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Oct. 23.

The prime minister’s office also said Lee will meet with “key officials in Japan’s political and business circles” and will host a meeting with Korean residents and immigrants in the country.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This plan does not solve the heart of the problem which is South Korea trying to confiscate Japanese property in South Korea which Tokyo believes is in violation of the 1965 treaty that normalized relations between the two countries:

A Korean-Japanese parliamentary group is promoting an idea to break the diplomatic logjam between the two countries that involves Seoul returning to a bilateral intelligence-sharing pact and Tokyo cancelling export restrictions, a member of the group exclusively told the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday.

One “important opportunity” for both countries to decide on such a “simultaneous action plan” will come at the end of this month, when Seoul dispatches an official to Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony on Oct. 22 in Tokyo, the source continued.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this whole thing could be ended if President Moon agrees that confiscation of Japanese property in South Korea will not happen.

Considering how close Prime Minister Abe is with President Trump, this could be a sign that the U.S. has a deal in the works that the Japanese want to be part of:

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he wants to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even though he keeps testing missiles. At the same time, Abe gave a cold shoulder to South Korea amid tensions over wartime history.

In a policy speech opening the parliamentary session, Abe said he will take any chance to meet Kim.

“I’m determined to face Chairman Kim Jong Un, without attaching any preconditions,” Abe said, after changing his policy earlier this year. “Based on a level-headed analysis, I will act decisively so that I won’t miss any chance.”

Abe used to say he would meet Kim only when there is progress on denuclearization and the decades-old issue of Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea. But he changed his tune after other regional leaders, including those in China, South Korea and Russia, choose to meet Kim.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

The Japanese government is trying to get in front of the claim that radiation from the Fukushima disaster is impacting South Korea:

Japan’s embassy in South Korea has begun posting the daily radiation levels of Fukushima and Seoul after new questions about the lingering effects of the 2011 nuclear disaster.

The embassy website said the information reflects that “interest in radiation levels in Japan has recently been increasing, particularly in South Korea”.

The move comes amid worsening ties between Japan and South Korea over a long-running disagreement about Japanese use of forced labour in South Korea during World War II.

The two countries have taken retaliatory trade measures against each other, and South Korea has tightened radiation checks on Japanese food imports.

The readings show levels in three Japanese cities are almost the same as in major cities outside of Japan, including Seoul, the embassy says.

“The Japanese government hopes the South Korean people’s understanding about Japan’s radiation levels will deepen as we continue to provide accurate information based on scientific evidence and explain it fully with clarity,” it says in Japanese and Korean on the site.

AFP

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese can post whatever accurate information they want and it is not going to matter. This is clearly retaliation against the export controls that Japan has put on South Korea for equally dubious reasons.

Latest polls: South Koreans are more wary of Japan than of North Korea. Meanwhile, 80% of respondents trust US. pic.twitter.com/R9Rv0hcpOg

— William Kim 김영권 (@NKMESSENGER) September 25, 2019

Here is the latest on the South Korea-Japan spat:

Japan did not ask South Korea for intelligence on North Korea’s recent launch of two “unidentified projectiles” after Seoul ended its military information sharing pact with Tokyo. 

Political analysts in Seoul said Sunday the key motivation behind the silence was because it did not want to be viewed as seeking help to acquire classified information after the termination of the pact, commonly known as GSOMIA, Aug. 22.

However Tokyo seems fully capable of monitoring North Korea’s military activities in cooperation with the United States and does not need to work with South Korea, they added. 

Seoul’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) have yet to finalize their assessment of the projectiles’ maximum altitude and speed ― two key pieces of information when analyzing the specifications of North Korean missiles or projectiles.

“I think Japan is curious to know about North Korean projectiles last week but does not want to appear to be begging for help from the South,” Shin In-kyun, president of the Korea Defense Network said. “This is why Japan has not asked for related information on the projectiles. It is as simple as that.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but maybe the Japanese are not bother to ask the ROK because they already received their intelligence information from the United States?

The Japanese are apparently letting the North Korean authorities push them around in their own EEZ:

A North Korean government vessel with an armed crew threatened a Fisheries Agency’s patrol ship in the Sea of Japan in late August, prompting Japanese fishing boats operating in the area to flee, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

Stars & Stripes