Search Results for: dokdo

Here is what President Moon had to say about Japan’s trade restrictions that were implemented this week on South Korea:

President Moon Jae-in slammed Japan’s removal of Korea from its “white list” of trusted trading partners, urging Tokyo to become more “honest” about its reason and to acknowledge its historical wrongdoings on Thursday.  

Moon said that the Japanese government’s recent action was “very regrettable” as he held a cabinet meeting on next year’s budget in the Blue House, noting that Tokyo has “linked historical issues to economic matters,” calling its attitude “very disingenuous.”

Japan on Wednesday removed Korea from its white list of countries given preferential treatment in exports, implementing a decision reached by its cabinet at the beginning of this month.  

The Japanese government has yet to “state an honest reason for its economic retaliation,” Moon said, noting that it has shifted its rhetoric “as frequently as necessary.”

Tokyo’s export regulations implemented since the beginning of July are widely seen as retaliation for Korean Supreme Court rulings last year ordering Japanese companies to compensate Korean victims of forced labor during World War II. The top court acknowledged the illegality of Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule over Korea and recognized that the victims’ rights to individual compensation have not expired.  

Japan has yet to officially acknowledge that its economic retaliations are a result of the forced labor rulings and instead has been citing national security concerns and a breach of “trust” as reasons for exports controls on Korea.  

Joong Ang Ilbo

Japan says the trade restrictions were put in place to help prevent illegal exports from South Korea to North Korea. There has been illegal exports to North Korea, but I think everyone knows the real reason for the trade restrictions is because of the threat to seize assets from Japanese companies over past historical issues. That is why Moon is calling the restrictions dishonest.

Moon goes on:

Moon further said that Tokyo “has been never honest” on historical issues, noting that Japan “was the perpetrator behind unfortunate chapters of history” in Korea and many other Asian countries.

The president said that Tokyo claiming the Dokdo islets in the East Sea, which Japan calls Takeshima, is “preposterous” as the islets are considered the first territory “to fall victim to imperial Japan’s aggression.”  

South Korea clearly owns Dokdo, but the Japanese government continues to make claims to it mainly because of the Kuril Islands occupied by Russia. If Japan drops their claim to Dokdo the Russian government could say that since Japan has recognized the ROK occupation of the Dokdo Islets as legitimizing the ownership of that islet, than the Russian occupation of the Kuril Islands after World War II should be legitimized as well.

Moon continues:

He pointed out that this “attitude” of the Japanese government, which distorts history and “neither acknowledges nor repents its past wrongdoings,” only “aggravates the wounds and anguish of the victims.”

Moon said it “is never shameful to remember and reflect on the past,” noting every country has such moments.  

“Recollection and self-reflection about the past can never be completed,” he said, and cannot be “brought to conclusion just by saying that repentance is over because it was uttered once, or that the past is completely over because an agreement was reached once.”

Tokyo claims that a 1965 treaty normalizing bilateral relations with Korea, which provided an economic cooperation fund, settled all compensation matters.

Japan has made multiple apologies and have clearly hit apology fatigue over their historical issues with South Korea. I am still waiting for the Moon administration to demand China and North Korea “repent on its past wrong doings” like he is saying Japan should continue to do. The destruction caused by North Korea and China during the Korean War was far worse than what Japan did during their colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula. Plus China continues to have their economic retaliation in place against South Korea over the THAAD issue.

Also it is interesting that Moon says that since an agreement was reached once doesn’t mean that matter is really settled which how he is likely justifying the withdrawing out of the comfort women agreement reached during the Park Geun-hye administration and demanding more compensation for Japan.

Most people probably felt the relationship with Japan was likely to go poorly once President Moon was elected after much progress during the Park administration was made to normalize the relationship. I don’t think anyone thought the relationship would get this bad though.

The findings from this recent poll are especially troubling when you consider that last year a different poll found that 78% of South Koreans said they trusted Kim Jong-un. It would be interesting though if someone polled these two questions together to the Korean public. However, such polling numbers may seem to make no sense that Koreans would trust the leader of country committed to their destruction over a country that has no hostile intentions towards them, but for anyone that has followed Korea and Japan issues it makes perfect sense:

Three-quarters of Japanese do not trust their South Korean neighbours – and the feeling is mutual, a study has found.

A record 74 per cent of Japanese were now distrustful of South Koreans, found the study by the Yomiuri Shimbunin Japan

 and the Hankook Ilbo in Korea. That was more than at any time since the study was first conducted in 1996 and well above last year’s figure of 60 per cent. Meanwhile, 75 per cent of South Koreans

 had no trust in the Japanese, down from 79 per cent last year.

Those personal sentiments appeared to mirror a strained diplomatic relationship between the two countries. Some 83 per cent of Japanese respondents thought bilateral relations were bad, up from 63 per cent last year, while 82 per cent of Koreans thought the same, up from 69 per cent last year.

South China Morning Post

You can read much more at the link, but the reasons for the distrust are the usual ones, the Japanese did not apologize enough for World War II and the Japanese say they are tired of apologizing over and over again. Then there is always the Dokdo craziness.

As I have long said there is no reason for the South Korean political left to give up their anti-Japanese stance. It is even hard for the South Korean right to do so, though the prior President Park Geun-hye tried and the current government scrapped the deal she made with Japan. The issue is too great of punching bag for politicians to turn to when they need to deflect attention from domestic issues. How many times have we seen a Korean politician under domestic pressure show up on Dokdo?

This is all why I have long believed that if Japanese Prime Minister Abe was really clever he should apologize for war time sexual slavery once again, but this time in a large public speech to draw maximum media attention. During this speech then announce that Japan to atone for its past sins would become a champion of women’s rights beginning with the plight of modern day sexual slavery of North Korean women in China that both the South Korean and Chinese governments choose to ignore.

North Korean women trafficked in the sex industry in China are the modern day comfort women that the Chinese and South Koreans do nothing to stop.  Japan becoming an advocate for these women would expose the current hypocrisy of their critics on this issue.

Such a stance would make it difficult for the political demagogues in South Korean to bring up more demands for apologies when it would reflect negatively on their own current human rights failures. It would no doubt be a bold measure, but I see no other way of ending the current impasse.

Isabu, a Silla general famed for his conquest (AD 512) of the islands of Dokdo and Ulleungdo, will soon have a bridge in his honor. The city of Samcheok, Gangwon Province, will be building a bridge that will frame the island of Dokdo when viewed from the city, a symbol of the “eye” of Kim Isabu. The “Isabu Dokdo Peace Bridge” is expected to be completed in 2020 and will connect the city of Samcheok with Obun Port. A memorial hall for Kim Isabu and an observatory to view the port will be constructed nearby. A memorial stone honoring Isabu’s voyages was constructed along the harbor in 2010. (provided by the city of Samcheok)

I wonder how long it will be before these F-35’s are in a photo op flying over Dokdo?:

South Korea will acquire two stealth fighters from the United States in late March, allowing the country to fly the latest fifth-generation aircraft in the world, sources said Sunday.

The two F-35A jets will arrive in Seoul, and they will likely be assigned to combat units that defend the country starting in April or May, several insiders familiar with the matter said.

South Korea has agreed to purchase 40 F-35As in a 2014 contract. The jets are designed to evade detection and have the latest electronics suite that can allow them to be effective even in well defended airspace. A single plane is reportedly priced at around 120 billion won (US$107.5 million). Korea may buy 20 additional F-35s as the Air Force has requested more assets.

Korea Times via a reader tip

You can read more at the link.

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.

The Russians are acting like Russians:

Two Russian military planes on Friday violated South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) four times and flew away following warnings, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The JCS said that the aircraft first entered the KADIZ north of the eastern island of Ulleungdo at 2:08 p.m. and flew out of it 74 kilometers southeast of Pohang at 2:35 p.m. They re-entered the KADIZ at 3:21 p.m. from the east and then left from the northwest of Jeju Island at 3:45 p.m.

At 4:08 p.m., the planes entered the KADIZ northwest of Jeju and flew out of it at 4:32 p.m. At 5:36, they re-entered the KADIZ from the east of the Dokdo islets and left at 5:53 p.m.

South Korea deployed its aircraft to send warnings to the planes, the JCS explained.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the Russians do these flights through US and Japanese ADIZ’s as well likely to assess the response times of ground alert aircraft.

It seems that if the ROK wants to use their amphibious landing ships to project power from with their F-35B fighters they can find a way to modify the decks of the ships:

South Korea’s military has begun to consider operating F-35B stealth aircraft from its newest amphibious landing ship slated to be deployed in 2020, as part of efforts to strengthen its naval power, sources said Monday.

The authorities have recently discussed whether the second 14,000-ton Dokdo-class vessel can carry the F-35B fighter, a short takeoff and vertical landing variant of the U.S.-made fifth-generation warplane.

“I understand that the military top brass have recently discussed whether they can introduce a small number of F-35B fighters and operate them aboard the new ship that has already been deployed and one to be additionally built,” a military source told Yonhap News Agency, declining to be named.

“As far as I know, the idea is being weighed in light of maximizing the strategic value of the vessel’s capabilities,” he added.

The existing Dokdo ship is seen capable of operating only transport helicopters because its deck is not made of materials that can withstand high temperatures or friction caused by fighter jet operations.

“Considerations will continue about whether we can run F-35Bs by redesigning the decks of the Dokdo and the new ship that is being constructed,” another source said.

In 2014, Seoul decided to purchase 40 F-35A fighters for deployment from 2018 through 2021 at a cost of 7.3 trillion won (US$6.75 billion). The F-35A is the fighter’s air force variant, while the F-35B and F-35C are for marines and aircraft carrier-based operations, respectively.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Yet another North Korean soldier has defected across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and this time it was not as dramatic as the November defection at the JSA:

A North Korean soldier defected to South Korea across the mid-western border Thursday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

“A low-ranking soldier defected to our GP (guard post) across the mid-western border at 8:04 a.m.,” a JCS official said, asking not to be named.

The latest defection came about 40 days after another North Korean soldier fled to the South through the Joint Security Area (JSA) at the truce village of Panmunjeom.

The JCS said the GP occupants identified the soldier coming toward the South through surveillance equipment, adding that the soldier carried an AK-47 assault rifle.

“Relevant bodies will conduct an investigation into how and why the soldier defected to the South,” the official said.

No shots were exchanged between the two Koreas during the soldier’s defection; but South Korean troops fired 20 warning rounds from K-3 machine guns at 9:24 a.m. when North Korean border guards approached the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) while searching for the soldier who defected.

“The North’s border guards stopped approaching the MDL after our warning shots,” the official said.

At 10:13 a.m. and 10:16 a.m., shots were heard from the North, but there was no damage on the South Korean side, the official added.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised if the shots heard from the North were executions of the officers responsible for the soldier who defected.  The same thing happened after the Russian student defected during the 1984 JSA Shootout.

This defection is the fourth this year by a North Korean soldier.  Prior to these defections there were four defections of North Korean soldiers in the past 5 years.

Coincidentally on the same day two North Korean fishermen defected across the East Sea as well.  They were picked up to the north of Dokdo.  That makes 15 North Korean defections this year across the DMZ or maritime border compared to 5 last year.  The numbers may be up this year of defecting across the border, but the numbers are still too low to draw any hard conclusions.  I guess we will see what happens in 2018.

It figures that the Moon Jae-in administration would find a way to stick to the Japanese during President Trump’s visit:

The rightwing government in Tokyo was duly incensed when Korea served U.S. President Donald Trump shrimp caught near Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, to which Japan maintains a flimsy colonial claim.

Worse in the eyes of the nationalists in Japan was the invitation to a state dinner for Trump on Tuesday of a victim of imperial Japan’s sexual enslavement of women during World War II.

Tokyo protested through diplomatic channels that Cheong Wa Dae’s invitation of sex slavery victim Lee Yong-soo to the state dinner is “against the purport” of a 2015 agreement to compensate the women, which was once described as “a final and irreversible resolution,” according to the Yomiuri Shimbun on Wednesday.

The controversial deal, which trades indirect compensation for a promise to remove memorials for the victims from the vicinity of Japanese diplomatic missions, makes no mention of what events the victims of the atrocity can or cannot be invited to.

The new government of President Moon Jae-in wants to reverse it.   [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but why were the victims of Chinese and North Korean atrocities not invited to the state dinner?