Welcome to Issues in Japan.
The topic this time is the so-called territorial issue between Japan and the South Korea regarding the Takeshima Islands.
I would like tentatively to share the contents of the article of THE SANKEI NEWS posted on February 22, 2022, written by Mr. Masao Shimojo, Visiting Professor, Tokai University and Shimaane Prefectural University, posted on February 21, 2022.
When recommending Sado Gold Mine (Niigata Prefecture) as a World Heritage Site, the South Korean government demanded that the forced labor of Koreans should be included in the list, similar to the case of Battleship Island (Hashima Island Coal Mine), which was registered as a World Heritage Site earlier.
In response, the Japanese government has taken a fact-supremacist stance, claiming that historical facts are important.
However, this is exactly what the South Koreans want.
This is because Japan and the Korean Peninsula, although adjacent to each other, have completely different social development phases and naturally have different diplomatic stances.
The postwar relationship between Japan and Korea is a clear example of this difference.
First, South Korea's "Historical Perception".
After the defeat of Japan, the colonial ruler of the Korean Peninsula, and the reversal of the position of Japan and South Korea, the South Korean side began to call for a rewriting of history based on its own perception of history as a " settlement of the past”.
The first example of this was the occupation of Takeshima Islands by the South Korean government.
At that time, the South Korean government presented the historical recognition that Takeshima was "the first victim of Japan's invasion of Korea”.
This time also, after meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Yi-yeon reportedly said, "Correct historical recognition is the basis for the development of future-oriented relations between Korea and Japan."
To the South Korea side, which uses the "correct historical recognition" as a diplomatic card instead of historical facts, explaining with historical facts in good faith will not get through.
It would have the opposite effect and Japan would be portrayed by them as not having reflected on the past.
This means that diplomacy with South Korea must be handled strategically.
The South Korean government has been raising the issue of the name of the Sea of Japan on the international stage since 1992, claiming that "the Korean Peninsula has a history of calling the Sea of Japan 'the East Sea' for 2,000 years.
However, the fact is that the East Sea was not listed in the "Boundaries of the Oceans and Seas" (a guideline for the boundaries and names of oceans) compiled by the International Hydrographic Bureau in 1929.
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