Tag: Japan

It looks like the Moon administration is about to scrap an agreement made with the Japanese to settle the comfort women issue:

The planned shutdown of the Reconciliation and Healing Foundation, funded by Japan, is seen as Seoul’s move to effectively discard a 2015 accord between the neighboring countries on the “comfort women” issue.

Many Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II. Some historians put the number at as many as 200,000. Korea was under Japan’s brutal colonization from 1910-45.

Japanese citizens rally on Nov. 13, 2018, at a subway station near the Tokyo Dome, where K-pop sensation BTS was to stage a concert on the day, in a counterprotest to a demonstration bashing Korea. The boy group came under attack by the ultra-right groups in Japan after one of its members was seen wearing a T-shirt alluding to Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule and the atomic bombing of Japan. (Yonhap)

I think this can be interpreted in showing how important the US Army considers missile defense for Japan that it stood up a brigade headquarters there:

The Army has reactivated a brigade to oversee missile-defense units on mainland Japan, Okinawa and Guam.

The 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade was reactivated in a brief ceremony Wednesday at Camp Zama, headquarters of U.S. Army Japan in Kanagawa prefecture near Tokyo.

The brigade, based at Sagami General Depot, about 25 miles west of the Japanese capital, will oversee the 1st Battalion, 1st Air Defense Regiment at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, as well as the 10th and 14th Missile Defense Batteries on mainland Japan and a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, battery on Guam.

The unit, which will include about 115 personnel at full strength, is purely a headquarters unit, said U.S. Army Japan spokesman Kevin Krejcarek.

“It’s just personnel. There won’t be any missile batteries at Sagami,” he told Stars and Stripes ahead of Wednesday’s ceremony as protestors gathered outside Zama’s main gate.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but for those wondering USFK has its own air defense artillery brigade headquarters based at Osan Airbase.

It is very Japanese to apologize for causing a fuss even when you are taken hostage:

A Japanese journalist freed from Syria this week arrived home to overjoyed relatives and supporters, but also to vitriol from some who accuse him and other hostages of reckless behaviour.

Jumpei Yasuda was kidnapped in Syria in 2015, and spent more than three years in conditions he described as “hell.”

He arrived back in Japan on Thursday night, greeted by his delighted wife and parents, who had brought him homemade Japanese food to celebrate.

But even before Yasuda set foot on Japanese soil, he was the target of angry criticism — mostly online — ranging from accusations of recklessness to claims that he was not even Japanese.

“He is disturbing society,” wrote one Twitter user. “He’s an anti-citizen,” charged another.

Perhaps anticipating the criticism, Yasuda’s only statement upon arrival, read to reporters by his wife Myu, was dominated by an apology.

“I apologise for causing such trouble and worry, but thanks to all of you, I was able to come home safely,” he said.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but what made things worse for Yasuda was that he was once taken hostage in Iraq in 2004 as well.  This guy is obviously doing something wrong to be taken hostage by Islamic extremists twice.  With that said there is even a South Korean angle to this story:

And detractors have claimed Yasuda is not even Japanese, partly as the result of a bizarre hostage video showing him and another captive in Syria that emerged in August.

Despite speaking Japanese, he identified himself as a South Korean called “Omar”, apparently after his kidnappers banned him from revealing his identity or nationality.

“This guy isn’t even Japanese,” wrote one Twitter user. “He should go back to his country, South Korea,” added another.

That is pretty bizarre, but I am glad the guy made it safely back to Japan, but I think he should contemplate a career change.

Participants call for Japan to apologize for its wartime sexual slavery at a weekly rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Oct. 10, 2018. Some 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, are estimated to have been forced to serve the Japanese army in front-line brothels during World War II. They are euphemistically called “comfort women.” (Yonhap)

Despite Japan’s cancellation of participation in naval exercise at Jeju Island due to the Rising Sun flag controversy, they have decided not to retaliate and welcome ROK Naval ships to Sasebo:

Three South Korean naval ships carrying hundreds of military cadets will make a port call at Japan’s Sasebo naval base early next month, officials said Sunday.

The flotilla of three ships — comprising the lead vessel, 4,000-ton destroyer Dae Jo Yeong, and two amphibious landing ships, the Cheon Wang Bong and Il Chul Bong — will depart from the Korean naval base of Pyeongtaek to Sasebo via Jeju Island as part of a training cruise. The ships will visit ports in neighboring countries from Oct. 28 through Nov. 18.

About 600 students from South Korea’s national military, naval and air force academies will be on board the ships, according to the Ministry of National Defense. It is the first time the cadets from the three academies will have taken part in a joint cruise exercise.

After Sasebo, the ships will sail to the Russian port of Vladivostok, the ministry said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

This is a wise move because Japan doesn’t need to give South Korean leftists any more reason to bash the country with:

Japan announced Friday that it won’t send a warship to an international fleet review hosted by South Korea next week because it could not accept Seoul’s request that it remove the Japanese navy’s “rising sun” flag.

Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that Japan had notified the South Korean government of its decision.

“Unfortunately, we have come to a situation where we have no choice but to pass on our participation in the international fleet review,” Iwaya said.

Many South Koreans see the flag as a symbol of Japan’s World War II aggression, and protested its use during the Oct. 10-14 event near Jeju island.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but this dust up makes me wonder that if North Korea gets its confederation with South Korea, will the Stars & Stripes one day be unwelcome in Korea?  From the Kim regime perspective it would be a symbol of aggression just like the Rising Sun flag.

Well, we must never forget 36 yrs of Japan's aggression which ended more than 70 years ago but must forget close to 70 yrs of Kim family's ongoing aggression against its people and South Korea. https://t.co/yTcUbDZRR3

— North Korea & Human Rights (@nefornkhr) October 4, 2018

I am sure the irony is not lost on the Kim regime that they are bashing the Japanese Navy for an arms build up when it simply tested an SM-3 missile used for missile defense of their country.  An SM-3 missile is not used for offensive operations against North Korea:

North Korea on Saturday blasted Japan for trying to create tension on the Korean Peninsula, while also accusing the country of trying to rebuild its military.

“The maritime ‘Self-Defense Force’ (MSDF) of Japan recently conducted a test-fire of the interceptor missile SM-3 Block 1B on an Aegis destroyer in waters off Hawaii of the U.S. It is reportedly the first time that the MSDF conducted an interceptor missile test-fire,” the Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper published by the North’s Workers’ Party, reported.

In a commentary carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency, the newspaper insisted Japan was trying to build a military capable of waging war against others.

“The present reactionary regime of Japan seeks to put the Asia-Pacific region under control by turning Japan into a country capable of going to war,” it said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Courtesy of the Japanese Navy, the Moon administration has a nice distraction to rally all Koreans around:

The Navy said Sunday it remains in opposition to a Japanese warship carrying a controversial imperialistic flag to an international naval event in South Korea next month.

The southern island of Jeju will stage the International Fleet Review from Oct. 10-14, and the Navy said warships from 15 nations, including Japan, the United States and China, will participate in the first such event in South Korea since 2008.

The Japanese vessel is expected to display the Rising Sun Flag, viewed as an emblem of the country’s wartime aggression in South Korea, where historical animosity over the wrongdoings of the country’s former colonizer still runs deep. Japan colonized the peninsula from 1910-45.

South Korea earlier informed participating nations that they should raise their national flag and the flag of the host country. One South Korean Navy official said the stance hasn’t changed.

“We’ll continue to speak with Japan regarding this matter,” the official said. “Our Navy has a separate communication channel with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and we’ll continue to let them know where we stand.”

Another South Korean military source said he expected Japan to carry the flag into Jeju waters and then take it down during the actual review.  [Yonhap]