Category: Japan

It looks like Japanese Prime Minister Abe wants to try his hand at Trump style diplomacy with Kim Jong-un:

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday made public his determination to have talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a bid to normalize bilateral diplomatic relations.
In a policy speech to the Diet, Abe said he will “act decisively without losing any opportunity” to settle the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by the communist nation decades ago and its nuclear and missile programs.
“(We) should break the shell of mutual mistrust in order to resolve the North Korean nuclear and missile issue, and the most important issue of abduction,” he said. “The goal is to settle the unfortunate history with North Korea and normalize diplomatic relations.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Abe administration must be getting a good domestic political bump from the radar issue with the ROK because you would think at this point they would just let it go:

The Defense Ministry announced Monday it will terminate talks with its South Korean counterpart over the radar lock-on dispute, while revealing what it claims are sounds, converted from radio waves, of the fire-control radar system of a South Korean destroyer.
The 18-second audio file, if genuine, reportedly shows that continuous, intense radar waves were directed at the P-1 anti-submarine patrol airplane operated by the Maritime Self-Defense Force on Dec. 20 in the Sea of Japan.

Japanese defense officials said the wave patterns are completely different from surface search radar waves that Seoul claimed were being used by the South Korean Navy’s Gwanggaeto destroyer.
“We believe a third party would be convinced that what we have said is true if they examine the sounds, a video footage and other materials in a comprehensive way,” said a senior Defense Ministry official who briefed reporters at the ministry, referring in particular to 13 minutes of video footage.
The video footage also included the voice of the pilot of the MSDF P-1 aircraft, who the ministry said heard the same radar sounds while flying near the destroyer.
Japanese officials said that they had identified FC (fire control) waves as being directed from the STIR-180 fire control system of the South Korean destroyer.
However, it is not yet clear — and is perhaps unlikely — that the newly-revealed evidence will put an end to the Tokyo-Seoul dispute.
“We express deep regrets over its decision to stop consultations designed to verify the facts,” Choi Hyun-soo, a spokeswoman for Seoul’s defense ministry, said of Tokyo’s move, according to Yonhap News Agency.
“The sounds that the Japanese side presented are just mechanical sounds from which we can never verify the pieces of information we have demanded — the detection date, angle and traits of electromagnetic waves,” she added.

Japan Times

You can read more at the link, but the Japanese Defense Ministry even admits this is not a smoking gun, but believe all the evidence released so far would convince a third party observer that a fire control radar was in fact used by the ROK on the Japanese aircraft.

This issue is not going to be completely resolved unless the Japanese release sensitive radar data collection evidence which they likely will not do. Releasing how sensitive their radar wave detection capability is just to make a political point against the ROK is probably not worth it.

Just all the more reason the Japanese should just lets this issue go:

Hopefully no one that follows this issue closely is surprised by North Korea continuing to develop their nuclear weapons program:

North Korea‘s Kim Jong Un is “gaining time” as he fine-tunes his nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs, a Japanese analyst said.
During a conversation Monday with former CIA director Gen. David Petraeus at Japan Society, former Lieutenant General of Japan’s Self-Defense Force Koichi Isobe said North Korea has not stopped military developments despite refraining from provocations.

“Kim Jong Un is gaining time to continue developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles,” Isobe said. “The threat of intermediate ballistic missiles [that can target Japan] still remains.”
The former Japanese commander added Tokyo faces challenges across three strategic fronts, including the Korean Peninsula.

“Since the 2010s, all three fronts have become tense. Traditional geopolitics has come back to the region.”
Gen. Petraeus, best known for leading the 2007 “surge” in Iraq, agreed North Korea is developing nuclear and missile capabilities, but said the testing of missiles stopped because of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s confrontational approach.
“The only way to [stop provocations] was to get the attention of China, and this is why you had some of the rhetoric, not all of which would have been my choice of words at various times,” Petraeus said, referring to Trump’s threat in 2017 to “totally destroy” North Korea and “rocket man” Kim.

UPI

You can read more at the link.

This is so anti-Black and imperialist, I can't even. In fact, I'd argue that K-pop, esp the inclusion of rap, is in many ways Koreans adapting Black musical forms as a reaction to their own experiences with racist colonial oppression by Japan. https://t.co/RL1b3ffpxS

— Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🙅🏽‍♀️ 🇧🇧🌈 (@IBJIYONGI) January 9, 2019

For those that have not been following this issue, the Japanese side does not dispute the forced labor claim, what they dispute is that they already paid compensation with the 1965 treaty. Instead of handing out money for individual compensation, the ROK government used the money to develop the economy instead.

A South Korean court said Wednesday it has ordered the seizure of local assets of a Japanese company after it refused to compensate several wartime forced laborers, in an escalation of a diplomatic brawl between the Asian neighbors.
Japan called the decision “extremely regrettable” and said it will push for talks with Seoul on the issue.
In a landmark ruling in October, South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay 100 million won ($88,000) each to four plaintiffs forced to work for the company when Japan colonized the Korean Peninsula in 1910-45.

But the company refused to follow that ruling, siding with Japan’s long-held positon that all colonial-era compensation issues were settled by a 1965 treaty that restored diplomatic relations between the two governments. Japanese officials said they could take the issue to the International Court of Justice.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link, but is the ROK government going support someone who makes a compensation claim against China for their role in the destruction of South Korea during the Korean War that killed tens of thousands of South Koreans?

By the way Joshua Stanton over at One Free Korea makes a good point, I wonder how much the sagging Moon administration approval ratings have to do with this?

I haven't read the news today. Are the South Korean president's approval ratings down? https://t.co/Tway5G267Y

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) January 9, 2019

Probably wouldn't go as far as to say that Korea doesn't care, but it's been notable how comms from the ROK side have been largely siloed to MND, while those from Japan have often come from Abe's circle. One side is clearly eager to make a bigger deal out of this than the other. https://t.co/fLgg2XhQG9

— 이주민 / Chris Lee (@oldtype) January 7, 2019

This could get ugly very quickly if the South Korean government decides to forcibly seize assets from Japanese companies to pay for these court rulings:

South Korean victims of forced labor during Japan’s colonial rule have begun taking steps to seize the assets held in South Korea by a Japanese firm implicated in the Japan’s wartime crime. 

The lawyers for Lee Chun-sik and three other South Koreans forced to work for Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation recently asked a local court in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province to issue a writ of execution to have the company’s assets in the country seized. 

The company reportedly holds eleven billion won worth stocks of PNR, a joint venture with POSCO. 

In late October, South Korea’s Supreme Court had ordered the Japanese firm to compensate the four victims 100 million won each. 

Following the top court’s decision, the victims’ lawyers requested that the company answer how it will compensate, but has yet to give a reply.

KBS World Radio

The major issue here is that the Japanese government says that all compensation claims were paid for with the 1965 pact that saw $500 million from Japan 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 for.

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?

Here is the latest on the targeting radar spat between South Korea and Japan:

South Korea’s defense ministry expressed “deep concerns and regrets” Friday over Japan’s release of video footage related to an ongoing military radar spat, accusing Tokyo of releasing “misleading” facts.
Japan released a 13-minute-long video clip showing the operation of its Maritime Self-Defense Force’s P-1 patrol aircraft to back up its claim that a South Korean naval destroyer targeted the warplane with fire-control radar on Thursday last week.
Seoul has rejected the claim, saying that its 3,200-ton Gwanggaeto the Great destroyer did not target the plane of the partner country and that it was on a humanitarian operation to trace a North Korean ship drifting into international waters of the East Sea.

Yonhap

Here is the video that was released by Japan:

Here is what the ROK is claiming happened:

The footage showed an operator of the aircraft communicating a message to the South Korean Navy about its alleged discovery of the destroyer’s radar directed at his plane in a relatively calm voice that observers say did not reflect a sense of urgency.
“This is the Japanese Navy … We observed that your FC (fire control) antenna is directed at us,” an operator said in a message sent to the Korean navy.
“What is the purpose of your act, over?” he added without demanding that the Korean Navy stop what Tokyo has characterized as a “dangerous act.”
A South Korean military official noted that the plane was flying only about 150 meters above the destroyer and around 500 meters away from its side — a flight that could be seen as posing a threat to a foreign Navy.
“The reason why we did not lodge an immediate protest against a low-flying plane was that we were focusing on the rescue operation with the thought of it being a friendly aircraft,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“The plane capable of carrying missiles and torpedoes can pose a threat even when it operates from a distance. But it was approaching the Navy ship,” he added.
Seoul officials also pointed out that Japan failed to offer a “smoking gun,” namely its analysis of the radar frequency which can verify whether the radar Tokyo claims was used against it was a targeting system.
While Japan’s aircraft was approaching the destroyer, the antenna of its fire-control radar, STIR 180, appears to have turned toward the plane, as the Navy tried to identify the plane with an electro-optical targeting system attached to the radar. But the radar did not send out any beam to the plane, Seoul officials have said.

Yonhap

The reconnaissance aircraft was clearly marked as being Japanese and had no missiles on it. The weather was very clear so claiming the aircraft was a threat is far fetched in my opinion. Does anyone have any opinions on who to believe in regards to this spat?

The Japanese are now claiming that its patrol plane was targeted by the South Korean Navy ship multiple times which means this was likely no accident if true:

A diplomatic row between South Korea and Japan escalated for a third day since a South Korean destroyer allegedly locked its radar on a Japanese surveillance plane Thursday during an operation to rescue a distressed North Korean vessel.

A Japanese Defense Ministry official on Sunday said that the South Korean warship targeted a Japanese patrol plane “multiple times for several minutes using its attack-purpose radar.” He reiterated demands by Japan’s Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya a day earlier that Seoul apologize for what he called an “extremely dangerous act.”

Iwaya said that the South Korean Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer aimed its fire control radar at a Japanese P-1 patrol plane that was conducting surveillance operations over its waters near central Honshu on Thursday. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

The Moon administration is saying this all lies and that the Japanese government is using this distract domestic attention:

 

South Korea voiced “strong regrets” Monday over Japan’s repeated claim that its Navy ship directed fire-control radar at Tokyo’s patrol aircraft last week, a Seoul official said.
Korea’s foreign ministry expressed its view during director-general talks with Japan in Seoul.
“We have voiced strong regrets that Japan has unilaterally made its own claims to the media,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“The two sides sufficiently explained their positions, but there appear to be gaps in their views. But we have agreed to continue communication going forward, if need be,” he added.
On Friday, Tokyo publicly accused a South Korean warship of having targeted its Maritime Self-Defense Force’s P-1 patrol aircraft on Thursday. 
Seoul rejected the claim, saying Tokyo misinterpreted its naval operation to help a North Korean ship drifting near a sea border in the East Sea. 
Despite Seoul’s denial, Tokyo has repeatedly raised the issue, sparking speculation that the Japanese government appears to be trying to divert attention from its waning public support.

Yonhap

Reading this Korean government statement has me wondering if the ROK Navy ship locked its weapons control radar on the Japanese aircraft to divert it from collecting intelligence on whatever they were doing with the North Korean ship.

I also find it ironic that the ROK government is claiming that the Japanese government is using the incident to divert domestic political attention when the ROK government regularly uses the Dokdo or comfort women issues to do the same thing.

Here is another statement from the ROK government that does not make sense:

South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Saturday dismissed the claims that its destroyer aimed its radar at the Japanese plane, and said that the ship had been carrying out routine operations at the time. A source within the South Korean Navy later clarified that the radar had been used to search for a North Korean vessel that had been marooned for several days off the peninsula’s east coast on Thursday. 

The South Korean Navy that day rescued three North Korean sailors off the distressed fishing boat and recovered one body. They were then handed over to the North across the demilitarized zone on Friday.

Though it acknowledged the South Korean navy had indeed been carrying out a search and rescue operation that day, Japan’s Defense Ministry refused to accept Seoul’s explanations over the use of the radar, saying it was not an appropriate instrument for a maritime search maneuver. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

As the Japanese Defense Ministry stated, a maritime search radar is different from the weapons control radar. The only explanation that makes sense is that the ROK Navy ship locked on the aircraft to divert it away from their operation with the North Korean vessel. The obvious next question is what was so sensitive about a supposed search and rescue mission that a ROK Navy ship did something as provocative as locking a weapons control radar on a Japanese patrol plane to divert it?

Or could this all just be simple incompetence by the ROK Navy?

Here is another example of South Korea needlessly raising tensions with Japan:

Japan’s defense minister protested to South Korea Friday after one of Seoul’s warships allegedly trained a weapon-guiding radar on a Japanese patrol plane over the Sea of Japan.
The incident, which took place the day before, resulted from “extremely dangerous behavior that could create unexpected consequences,” Takeshi Iwaya said.
He said that Tokyo would “strongly urge” Seoul to prevent it from happening again. The Japanese government lodged a protest with South Korea through diplomatic channels.

This is the first time the Japanese government has publicly leveled such accusations at South Korea. The incident could exacerbate already-strained relations between the neighbors, after a string of South Korean court rulings ordering compensation for citizens who were forced to work for Japanese companies during World War II.
At about 3 p.m. Thursday, a South Korean Gwanggaeto the Great-class destroyer locked its fire control radar on a P-1 patrol craft belonging to the Maritime Self-Defense Force, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. The plane, based out of the Atsugi Air Base in Kanagawa Prefecture, was patrolling inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone off the Noto Peninsula and was “at a distance” from a disputed set of islets called Takeshima by Japan and Dokdo by South Korea, the ministry said.

Nikkei Asian Review

You can read more at the link, but I doubt this was a mistake considering that South Korea has been busy executing a Dokdo defense drill this month against the imaginary Japanese invasion of Dokdo while ignoring the very real threat of a North Korean invasion.