Tag: Japan

Here is the latest on the forced labor issue between South Korea and Japan:

Here is the latest from the Imperial Japanese forced labor issue with South Korea:

Japan has protested a South Korean court order on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to sell assets in order to pay compensation to two women subjected to forced labor for the company during Japan’s occupation of the Korean peninsula during 1910-1945. Foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday that the ruling a day earlier by the Daejeon District Court in South Korea was a “clear violation of international law.” “We must avoid serious impacts on Japan-South Korea relations,” Motegi said, describing the court’s decision as “truly regrettable” during a regular news conference in Tokyo.

Relations between the two countries, both important U.S. allies in North Asia, have been dogged by the bitter legacy of Japan’s wartime occupation, and ties soured in 2019 due to a dispute over export controls which has yet to be resolved.

The Daejeon District Court in South Korea ruled on Monday that Mitsubishi Heavy should sell two patents and two trademarks, according to a support group for the women, who are both in their nineties.

Asahi Shimbun

You can read more at the link, but Tokyo believes this issue was resolved with the 1965 pact where $500 million from Japan was given to South Korea.  The ROK government at the time could have compensated everyone back then with that money, however it was instead used for the overall development of the country such as improving infrastructure.  The money ultimately helped with the country’s economic development at the expense of direct compensation to those effected by Japan’s colonial rule.  This is why Japan is so strongly against the court rulings they feel they have already paid compensation.

With that all said when is the ROK government going to launch lawsuits on behalf of victims of North Korea’s kidnappings and provocations in far more recent times than Japan’s colonial rule that began over a century ago?

This is a creative defense when this sailor probably just dozed off at the wheel after climbing up Mt. Fuji:

A U.S. naval officer, facing 4 ½ years in a Japanese prison, described in court Tuesday how he lost consciousness driving home from Mount Fuji and caused an accident that ultimately claimed the lives of two people.

Lt. Ridge Hanneman Alkonis, 33, crashed his car into pedestrians and parked vehicles at a soba restaurant parking lot in Fujinomiya on May 29, according to an indictment. The city is about two hours from Yokosuka Naval Base, where Alkonis is assigned to the destroyer USS Benfold as a weapons officer.

Alkonis, who is charged with negligent driving resulting in death, said he lost consciousness due to acute mountain sickness, a common set of symptoms that occur with a trip to high altitude.

Killed in the crash was a woman, 85, who died that day, and a man, 54, who died in a hospital on June 11. A second woman, 53, suffered bruises to her knees and elbows.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

You don’t say something like this to any reporter much less JTBC even if you think it is off the record:

Japan’s deputy chief of mission in Korea reportedly described President Moon Jae-in’s efforts to hold a Korea-Japan summit during the Tokyo Olympics as masturbatory in a conversation with a JTBC reporter on Friday.  

According to JTBC, the reporter asked Hirohisa Soma his thoughts on the chance for a Korea-Japan summit taking place during the Tokyo Olympics, to which Soma reportedly responded in a combination of Korean and English, “President Moon is masturbating himself.”  

Soma added that Japan “does not have the time to care so muchabout the relationship between the two countries as Korea thinks.”  

“The conversation took place [in a casual meeting,] not a public press event, but we decided to run a report because we felt the remarks were not appropriate,” JTBC reported.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I don’t see why the Moon administration even thought the Japanese government was ready to do them any favors considering all the animosity between them the past four years:

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has decided not to visit Japan this week, as no satisfactory accomplishment is expected in proposed summit talks, Cheong Wa Dae announced Monday.

Moon plans to send Hwang Hee, minister of culture, sports and tourism, there to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, slated for Friday, as head of his government’s delegation.

The president had considered a trip to Tokyo for the event. South Korea and Japan had consultations on the possibility of holding the first face-to-face summit between Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on the occasion.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is down right childish, but what do you expect when it comes to the continuing pissing matches between the ROK and Japan:

South Korea on Saturday took down banners at its Olympic athletes’ village with a nod to history, following a request from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said the IOC had raised issues with the message written across a few banners, initially hung on balconies at South Korean athletes’ rooms at the village in Tokyo. The letters translated as, “I still have support from 50 million Korean people.”

This was in reference to the famous words left by Admiral Yi Sun-sin before he and his undermanned fleet took on Japan in a naval battle in 1597. Yi, one of the most revered historical figures in South Korea, told King Seonjo of the Joseon Dynasty: “I still have 12 battleships left” and then maneuvered those dozen vessels to take down some 300 Japanese ships.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but instead of worrying about something that happened in the 16th century you would think these athletes would be more focused on the competition.

Tokyo just like Seoul has seen a recent increase in COVID infections and this has caused the Japanese government to cancel fans attending the games:

Organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Thursday agreed to hold the Games without spectators, after Japan declared a coronavirus state of emergency for the capital that will run throughout the event.

The widely expected move was made following talks between the government, Tokyo organizers and Olympic and Paralympic representatives.

It was “regrettable” that the Games were going to be held in a limited format, Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto told a briefing, adding her apologies to those who had bought tickets.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It will be interesting to see if local fans includes expats and military that are living in Japan:

The Tokyo Olympics will allow some local fans to attend when the games open in just over a month, organizing committee officials and the IOC said on Monday.

Organizers set a limit of 50% of capacity up to a maximum of 10,000 fans for all Olympic venues.

The decision was announced after so-called Five Party talks online with local organizers, the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Japanese government and the government of metropolitan Tokyo.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This would have been the stupidest reason ever to boycott the Olympics:

South Korea is not considering boycotting the Tokyo Olympics, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, after presidential hopefuls of the ruling Democratic Party mentioned the possibility of a boycott amid a renewed territorial spat with Japan over the East Sea islets of Dokdo.

Rep. Lee Nak-yon and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun raised the need to mull boycotting the Games, slated to take place from July 23-Aug. 8, should Japan not revise the map of the Olympic torch relay route that included Dokdo as its territory.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.