Author: Kunitoshi Matsuki

Japanese : https://i-rich.org/?p=2395

MATSUKI Kunitoshi
Senior Researcher
International Research Institute of Controversial Histories

On the past June 3, in South Korea, the presidential election following the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol was held and as mostly expected, Mr. Lee Jae-myung won and took the presidential office. I would like to state my view as to where the Lee Jae-myung Administration will head and how Japan should cope with his administration.

The birth of the despotic Lee Jae-myung Administration

One thing is certain: in South Korea, the President takes hold of all powers. Naturally, the President himself directly controls the administrative branch. President Lee appointed his men to all the important posts, such as the prime minister and the director of the top intelligence organ of the National Intelligence Service. As for the legislative body, since the ruling “Together Democratic Party” occupies the absolute majority of seats in the national legislature, bills and budget proposals and personnel proposals will easily pass the Assembly without much opposition.

How about the judicial aspect? The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea is appointed by the president and takes office after the approval by the National Assembly. The incumbent chief justice is conservative, but his term of office expires in June 2027, two years from now, and the next chief justice will be practically appointed by President Lee Jae-myung. Regarding the rest of the justices, nine out of the twelve justices are to be replaced due to the expiration of their terms while President Lee Jae-myung is in office. The justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the president, following the recommendation by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the approval by the National Assembly. Therefore, newly appointed justices are most likely to be those close to the administration.

As for the Constitutional Court, the Court is composed of nine justices, three of whom are selected respectively by the president, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court Chief Justice. Consequently, if as of June 2027, pro-president Supreme Court Chief Justice is to take office, almost all the Constitutional Court justices will be pro-President Lee Jae-myung.

The mass media, the so-called fourth power, are in the same political situation. The board members of the Korean public broadcasting stations, such as KBS and MBC, are appointed by the President on the recommendation by the governmental organ of the Korean Communications Commission (KCC). Consequently, those who align with President Lee Jae-myung’s intentions are to be elected board members, rendering the public broadcasting nothing but the advertising organ for the government. It is highly probable that the Lee Jae-myung administration will become a despotic one without any brakes.

Uniting the people through anti-Japan agitation

Serious social problems permeate South Korea, such as lingering high-unemployment rates among young people, expanding social inequality, and sharply declining birthrate rarely seen elsewhere in the world. Moreover, the national economy came to impasse, due to its heavy dependence on exports, and the economic growth rate for the first quarter of this year fell to minus 0.2 %. All these problems derive from structural failures and cannot be resolved overnight. Amid rising concerns over a fuzzy future, the people’s frustration will be directed against the Lee Jae-myung’s government.

The conservative powers within South Korea will never remain silent. In the first place, Mr. Lee Jae-myung evokes much suspicion because of his own dubious acts. Presently, he faces five lawsuits over the money he illegally sent to North Korea while in the gubernatorial office of Gyeonggi Province, and inappropriate conduct over the city development while he was a mayor of Seongnam City. Although the president has a privileged immunity from lawsuits, it is legally ambiguous whether the immunity can be applied to the cases which occurred before he became president. From now on, the conservative power will thoroughly hold the president accountable for these suspicious deeds, which have become the Achilles’ heel of the Lee Jae-myung’s government.

In the previous presidential election, over 40% of the votes were against Lee Jae-myung and if the conservative powers gain momentum and win decisively the next 2028 general election, it may be possible for the National Assembly to make a proposal to impeach President Lee Jae-myung. Although the president holds the personnel control over the Constitutional Court, if the anti-Lee Jae-myung public opinion becomes strong and the justices cater to it, the impeachment may become reality.

If President Lee Jae-myung is to avoid such “threat,” he must win the public opinion and have the ruling party dominate in the next general election. However, it is extremely difficult for the current government to achieve satisfactory results for the people in little time. Under such circumstances, there is no alternative but to turn the people’s dissatisfaction into “anger against Japan” by bringing back the historical issues, already settled in the past, inciting the anti-Japan sentiment.

Even if he voices the friendly Japan-South Korea cooperative policy line, the true nature of Mr. Lee Jae-myung is “China-friendly and anti-Japan” as seen from his past words and conduct. In his campaign promises, he clearly stated that he would “recover the honor of the former comfort women and bring about compensation as much as possible.” On the pretext of “realizing the campaign promise,” he may bring back the “comfort women issue,” which had been finally and irreversibly resolved and ask Japan for “apology and compensation.” In South Korea, a country strongly affected by anti-Japan sentiment, the more aggressively the president reacts against Japan, the more popular he becomes. And the ruling party will surely win in the next election.

His next target is the revision of the South Korean Constitution. In the Korean Constitution, the presidential term is limited to five years, without reelection. In the past, many of the consecutive presidents were judged guilty by the court after the expiration of the presidential term and met disastrous fate. Mr. Lee Jae-myung will be an ordinary person when he retires from the presidency. He is very suspicious, and it is easily foreseeable that he will be ruined, after being held accountable for several criminal deeds. To avoid such dire destiny, the only way is to become re-elected president. The South Korean president holds the right to propose constitutional revision and if Mr. Lee Jae-myung proposes, “Let us make it possible for the president to be re-elected, just like in the United States,” the proposal will probably pass. He will win the second term, resorting to every possible means under the despotic system he himself builds up and may even think of the way to the lifetime presidency.

Let’s stop the despotism through Japan-South Korea cooperation

If the government holds both legislative and judicial powers and anti-government activities are legally oppressed, there will be no freedom of speech, and the society will become no different from a socialistic regime. The danger does not stop here. The “China-friendly, and anti-Japan” political line the Lee Jae-myung administration plans to pursue will weaken the U.S.-Japan-South Korea alliance and in the worst scenario, it is feared that South Korea will be entirely swallowed up by China. If this becomes a reality, Japan would be obliged to directly face the hegemonic state of China, and Japan’s autonomy and independence may be threatened. To avoid such situation, the peoples of Japan and South Korea must cooperate and stop the despotic Lee Jae-myung regime, using all means.

I already mentioned that Mr. Lee Jae-myung will use “anti-Japan sentiment” to bring the Korean people together. However, this “anti-Japan sentiment” is nothing but “unjustified resentment” imprinted by anti-Japan education that distorts history. Fortunately, despite their small numbers, in South Korea, some scholars raised their voices to point out this fact. The book Anti-Japanese Tribalism written by the former professor at Seoul University Lee Younghoon concretely refutes the historical distortion in the anti-Japan education; it became a best seller in South Korea.

The claim that comfort women were “sexual slaves” taught in the anti-Japan education turned out to be not true and instead, the fact that they were simply prostitutes came to be known by many South Korean people. Civilian movements by South Koreans for the withdrawal of comfort woman statues built everywhere are expanding. In addition, more and more people gain access to various information through the Internet and come to doubt the credibility of what has been taught through the anti-Japan education.

What Japan should do is to provide an active support, so that these new waves may spread across South Korea. If South Korea wants to bring back again the historical issue, which has been resolved between the two countries, Japan must refute the claims one by one, truth by truth. If the anti-Japan historical view asserted by Mr. Lee Jae-myung is revealed to be a lie, his authority based on “anti-Japan sentiment” will fall, opening the way for the Korean conservative forces to come back. Mr. Lee Jae-myung may be impeached.

For the future of both peoples of Japan and South Korea, I, as a member of the International Research Institute of Controversial Histories, will continue to do my best. In addition, I ardently hope that the Japanese Government is determined to protect Japan’s national interest and undauntedly cope with the Lee Jae-myung administration and carry out its important responsibilities.

【日本語版】https://i-rich.org/?p=1439

MATSUKI Kunitoshi
Senior researcher
International Research Institute for Controversial Histories

April 5, 2023

During the meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol held on March 16, Prime Minister Kishida welcomed the solution of the issue proposed by the Korean Government that the Korean Supreme Court’s order for the Japanese companies to compensate should be subrogated by a foundation under the control of the South Korean Government. In addition, Prime Minister Kishida told the Korean President that “his government duly follows the historical recognition held by the consecutive Japanese Governments which states that Japan owes Korea apologies.” Some appreciated the efforts made by President Yoon in that he tried to tackle the issue of the mobilized worker. and did not ask Japan for direct responsibility related to the issue. However, the solution this time cannot fundamentally solve the issue and may create a serious problem for Japan in the future. Rather, I must say, it was a diplomatic blunder on the part of Japan. I will explain the reasons for my opinion.

The “solution by subrogation” means that the payment of compensation demanded from the Japanese companies by the South Korean Supreme Court shall be temporarily carried out by a South Korean foundation.

However, trials of “former mobilized workers” of the same nature were held also in Japan and the Japanese Supreme Court finally judged that the defendant companies were not responsible for compensations, dismissing the complaints by the plaintiffs. There is no need at all for the Japanese companies, which essentially are under no obligation to pay compensations, to be subrogated in the payment of compensations by a Korean foundation.

Nevertheless, should the Japanese Government accept the proposed “subrogated payment” by a Korean foundation, it would mean that the Japanese Government admits that the Japanese companies are responsible for the compensations. If so, it would appear that the verdict of the South Korean Supreme Court supersedes the verdict of the Japanese Supreme Court, which is nothing short of “abandonment of sovereignty” on the part of Japan.

Moreover, this “solution by subrogation” is, in itself, extremely unrealistic. However earnestly President Yoon Suk-yeol may say that Korea does not think of demanding compensation from Japan in the future, as long as it is “subrogation,” the claims for compensation will remain valid. And it is extremely important that President Yoon Suk-yeol has not referred to “the abandonment of the claim for compensation” so far.

Five of the fifteen plaintiffs who claim to be former mobilized workers have already stated that they refuse to receive compensation from the foundation and on March 24, a lawsuit was filed, demanding the seizure of the patent right of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and cashing in. However, the South Korean Government has no legal grounds for forcibly preventing the cashing in of the defendant company’s assets based on the court ruling. According to a public opinion poll conducted immediately after the meeting of the Japanese and South Korean leaders, 53% of the Korean people clearly opposed to the solution proposed this time. There is little possibility for the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration to successfully persuade the plaintiffs into following the Government’s policy, against the persistently adverse public opinion.

As with the case of the agreement over the comfort women, South Korea is a non-modern “state governed by emotion,” where public opinion is put before agreement reached by states. It is very likely that “the solution by subrogation measure” itself may be withdrawn because it is difficult to obtain the agreement of the alleged victims and that South Korea will demand apology and compensation from the Japanese companies.

In fact, South Korea’s largest opposition party’s leader Lee Jae-myung announced that in case of the change of administrations, his administration will exercise the compensation right. Under these circumstances I cannot help but wonder how on earth this could be a “solution.”

It is equally wrong that during the top meeting Prime Minister Kishida stated he would follow   the historical recognition of the consecutive Cabinets that obliged Japan to apologize to Korea. The issue of the mobilized workers is purely and strictly the South Korean domestic issue and in no way a Japanese Prime Minister should declare that Japan will continue to apologize to South Korea. What’s more, an easy apology may result in the adverse effect of authenticating Korea’s own distorted historical view that “Japan’s governance was an illegal colonial rule”. If this “solution by abrogation” is withdrawn and things get back to the deadlock, it will remain factual that the Japanese Government accepted for the time being the Korean Supreme Court’s decision of “illegal colonial rule.” And the Japanese Government promised to follow the past apologies. This is the defeat on the part of the Japanese diplomacy, isn’t it?

If Japan’s governance had been “illegal colonial rule,” then everything that happened during that period could become the target of lawsuits. Taxes collected by the Office of the Korean Governor General and profits made by Japanese companies would all fall into “illegal exploitation,” and in terms of the judicial logic, they become targets of anti-Japan lawsuits. Moreover, if the Korean court returns a guilty verdict, the consequence of the verdict is to be effective domestically in Japan, and the Koreans will have everything their way, filing one random lawsuit after another.

The Japan-South Korea relationship will be bankrupted, and the two countries will collapse together.

In order to avoid such catastrophe, the Japanese Government should straightforwardly point out the false Korean historical recognition, ascertain their view of history and establish an equal and normal relationship between Japan and South Korea. “Japan’s annexation of Korea” was the lawful unification of Japan and the Empire of Korea duly following international law and absolutely not a colonial rule. As to the issue of the claims between the two countries, it was “completely and finally” resolved by the Agreement Between Japan and the Republic of Korea Concerning the Settlement of Problems in Regard to Property and Claims and Economic Cooperation, concluded by both Governments in 1965. We must appeal to the world to learn these facts and endeavor to have South Korea accept them.

In addition, the South Korean judicial judgments should never be applied in Japan. Therefore, the Japanese Government should make the two points perfectly clear with the Korean side that the Korean Supreme Court’s decision invalidates the international treaty between the two countries and therefore the Japanese Government cannot accept the verdict and that the issue of the mobilized workers should be settled domestically within South Korea, based on the theory of governance, on the responsibility of President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is held ultimately responsible for the state. And above all, we sincerely want Prime Minister Kishida to review the incorrect historical recognition held by the consecutive Cabinets that eternally dooms our future generations to endless apologies, once and for all, and recover the confidence and pride of the Japanese people. This is the exact way to resuscitate Japan and recover from the total defeat.

Japanese : https://i-rich.org/?p=763

MATSUKI Kunitoshi
Senior Research Fellow
International Research Institute for Controversial Histories

May 2022

On May 10, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration was born in South Korea. During his presidential campaign, Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to “work to restore the relationship between South Korea and Japan if elected,” which has elicited in some people in Japan the optimistic expectation that he was a pro-Japanese person and the Japan-South Korea relationship would take a turn for improvement. However, this was a big mistake and in reality, the confrontation between Japan and South Korea will enter a crucial phase from now on.

It is true that Yoon Suk-yeol’s father is an expert on Japan who once taught at Hitotsubashi University and Suk-yeol himself also has an experience of visiting Japan when he was younger. However, “knowledgeable about Japan” does not equal “pro-Japanese.”

One of the ancestors of the Yoon family was Yoon Bong-gil, who committed the Hongkew Park Bombingnote 1) in Shanghai in 1932 that killed and injured many people, including civilians. He, a merciless terrorist, is praised in South Korea as an anti-Japanese hero and a proud precursor of the Yoon family. It was natural that Yoon Suk-yeol chose the Yoon Bong-gil Memorial Hall as the venue of the press conference for announcing his candidacy for the presidential election.

In addition to his descent, Yoon Suk-yeol is from a generation that has been receiving intense anti-Japanese education since childhood, which has prevented the formation of any pro-Japanese ideas. Regarding the comfort women issue, he is convinced that “200,000 Korean women were forcibly taken away by the Japanese government and made into sex slaves.” He visited the “comfort women museum” in Daegu City, took the hand of Lee Yong-soo, who claims to have been a former comfort woman, and went so far as to pledge by hooking each other’s little finger to “obtain an apology from Japan for certain and heal the psychological wounds of you all.”

The Yoon administration has a rocky road ahead. There is no way that President Yoon Suk-yeol can solve structural problems overnight, such as the widening economic and social disparity, declining birthrate, and deteriorating export competitiveness. It is obvious that, if nothing is done, the Yoon administration will be held back by the opposition party, which has an overwhelming majority in the parliament, and lose the trust of the people, being unable to take effective economic measures.

If he cannot score points with internal affairs, the only way left is diplomacy. Yoon Suk-yeol should be thinking that, for the Yoon administration to maintain its approval rating, the most effective way is to normalize the extremely chilly relations between South Korea and Japan in line with South Korea’s point of view and make a display of his victory in diplomacy toward Japan.

He claims to “improve the relationship between South Korea and Japan” not because he is sympathetic toward Japan but because he has scrupulously calculated that it will bring him a diplomatic victory and strengthen his administration’s reputation.

Yoon Suk-yeol, well-versed in the Japanese ways of thinking, is assumed to know the “essence” of how to cajole the Japanese people. He is more likely to be a tough opponent for Japan than the former president Moon Jae-in, who was “simply anti-Japanese.”

The Yoon administration is anticipated to launch a major offensive concerning history issues soon after taking office.

And its preliminary skirmishes have already begun. Yoon Suk-yeol sent a “delegation for policy dialogue” to Japan toward the end of April and Chung Jin-suk, the head of the delegation, made a statement to the media at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, urging Japan to compromise on history issues: “No sound can be made with one hand. The two nations must make sincere efforts.”

In addition, foreign minister-candidate Park Jin stated at a personnel hearing held in the National Assembly of South Korea on May 2 that he would “respect the decision of the judicial branch” concerning the wartime workers’ trial. He also mentioned that Japan’s apology was required for solving the comfort women issue. That is, he declared that his office, as a representative of the Republic of Korea, would not compromise on the history issues.

Up to now, the government of Japan has maintained its legitimate perspective that “the Japanese Annexation of Korea was lawful,” “no forcible taking away by the Japanese authorities took place” and “the claim rights issue between Japan and South Korea has been resolved” based on historical facts. In order to undermine this, the Yoon administration aims to use backdoor tactics to involve Japan with the comfort women and wartime workers issues.

First, Yoon will throw the ball to Japan’s court saying that he “will make efforts to improve the relationship between Japan and South Korea but wants Japan to cooperate as well regarding the comfort women issue, wartime workers issue and Sado Gold Mine issue.” No doubt he also will ask the US President Biden for “cooperation to urge Japan to compromise because he wants the ‘Japan-US-ROK’ partnership reinforced in terms of security.” That is what the US wants, and the US may also put pressure on Japan saying that, if the ball is in Japan’s court, Japan should take South Korea’s claim into account to strengthen the partnership. The defense and offence may change positions in diplomatic negotiations.

If that happens, the public opinion of Japan will also change. If the opponent was Lee Jae-myung, who repeats his anachronistic assertion that they should “be prepared for Japan’s invasion of the continent,” few Japanese would have been sympathetic to South Korea. However, with Yoon Suk-yeol, who apparently takes a conciliatory stance toward Japan, public opinion may be split. Major mass media under the control of the leftists will start a chorus of “The Japanese government should lend an ear to South Korea’s claims.” It is expected that, in talk shows, commentators who disregard the national interest will make one hypocritical remark after another that misleads the people such as “The Japanese government should not persist but get along well with the neighbor.” There is a possibility that public opinion may come around to Japan-Korea reconciliation at once.

However, at the root of South Korea’s logic is the historical perception that “the Japanese rule of Korea was unlawful colonial occupation and all activities conducted by the Japanese government and businesses were unlawful.” That is why they are making far-fetched claims that “free recruitment,” “official placement” and “requisition,” which were conducted lawfully, were all “unlawful forced mobilization.” If Japan lends an ear to South Korea’s claims and makes any concession, it will mean that Japan has empathized with South Korea’s logic of “unlawful colonial occupation.” That is, Japan will be considered to have voluntarily withdrawn its legitimate view maintained in the negotiations for the Japan-Korea Basic Relations Treaty that “the Japanese rule was lawful also in terms of international law.”

This is quite appalling. Tax collection and draft by the Government-General of Chosen will all be declared unlawful, and the profits made by Japanese businesses in the Korean Peninsula during the period of occupation will be labeled as “exploitation.” Everything may become a target of lawsuits and compensation on the ground that it was against Korean people’s will, not to mention the comfort women and wartime workers issues. The idea of no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity is becoming international common sense and South Korea may endlessly keep demanding apology and compensations from Japan. The honor of Japan will be impaired and a reconciliation between Japan and South Korea will never be reached.

Then, what should be done is to formally communicate Japan’s legitimate perspective that “everything has been resolved” to Yoon Suk-yeol before it is too late and secure South Korea’s commitment to observance of treaties and agreements concluded between Japan and South Korea. He was once the prosecutor general and should be unable to argue back if challenged based on law.

On that basis, Japan should candidly say to Yoon Suk-yeol that the main culprit of the hostility between Japan and South Korea is South Korea’s historical perception that twists the facts. If he cannot understand 100%, it will be sufficient if he recognizes that the two countries have their own positions and how meaningless it is to unconditionally force the logic of the one on the other. If he is a “man of faith,” there is a possibility that he will persuade the people, have the comfort women statues, a nasty harassment to Japan, removed, and resolve the issue of compensation to wartime workers internally to pave the way to true reconciliation between Japan and South Korea.

This is a crucial point for the Japanese government. Diplomacy is a pushing contest and not a compromise at all. Easy concession and consideration will only show weaknesses to the other party. For realizing true friendly relations between Japan and South Korea and for the national interest of Japan and the future of our children and grandchildren, the Kishida administration now must take a firm attitude to make a point to South Korea that Japan’s intention is to “never accept unreasonable demands based on twisted history” without being misled by any cajolery or sophistry of South Korea and without playing up to frivolous public opinion.

Note 1) Shanghai Hongkew Park Bombing
A terrorist bombing incident that occurred in Hongkew Park in Shanghai on April 29, 1932. A ceremony to celebrate the birthday of Emperor Showa was held on that day, in the presence of leaders of Japan gathered on the stage. While the national anthem Kimigayo was being sung in unison, Yoon Bong-gil threw a powerful bomb toward the center of the stage. The victims are as listed below.
Killed instantaneously: Kawabata Sadaji (doctor), Chairman of the Administrative Committee of the Japanese Resident's Association of Shanghai
Seriously injured: General Shirakawa Yoshinori, Commander of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force (died of the injuries one month later)
Lieutenant General Ueda Kenkichi, Commander of the 9th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Navy Vice Admiral Nomura Kichisaburo, Commander of the 3rd Fleet (lost an eye)
Shigemitsu Mamoru, Japanese Envoy in Shanghai (lost a leg; later successively served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Hatoyama and other cabinets)
Murai Kuramatsu, Japanese Consul-General in Shanghai
Tomono Shigeru, Chief Secretary of the Japanese Resident's Association of Shanghai
　　　
Yoon Bong-gil, the culprit, attempted to kill himself on the spot, when he was caught and arrested by the military police of the Shanghai Expeditionary Force and, after a court-martial, he was executed by a firing squad at Kanazawa Prison on December 19.

< Supplementary note: This article is to the same effect as the opinion in writing dated March 30, 2022, sent to Sakurai Yoshiko, President of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, which has been revised in accordance with the inauguration of the new President of the Republic of Korea. >