President Lee Myung-bak urged Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to follow up with actions on his apology over Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, the presidential office said Tuesday.
“During their 20-minute telephone conversation, Lee and Kan shared common understanding that the two countries should strengthen their cooperation further,” Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told reporters.
“Lee told the Prime Minister that there should be a proper assessment of the sincerity of Japan’s apology, stressing that it was important for Tokyo to follow it up.”
Kan called Lee after the Japanese government issued the apology.
In a statement, Kan expressed deep regret over the suffering inflicted upon the Korean people during the period and pledged to make efforts to deepen ties with South Korea. He said Japan would return precious cultural artifacts.
The Prime Minister, however, came short of admitting that Japan’s annexation treaty with Korea, which was signed on Aug. 22 in 1910 and took effect a week later, was illegal.
The statement drew mixed responses from South Koreans.
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) gave a guarded welcome to the apology.
“It is notable that Japan has admitted that it colonized Korea against the will of the Korean people and that it promised to return the royal documents,” said Ahn Hyoung-hwan, a GNP spokesman.
But he added that the statement falls short as it does not mention the illegality of the annexation and the use of hundreds of Korean women as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during the World War II.
The Korean Liberation Association, which represents those who fought for liberation from colonial rule and their descendents, called Kan’s apology “disappointing.”
“Japan deceived the Korean people once again by offering empty words. We have never received a sincere apology from Japan over its past wrongdoings,” the association said in a statement.
Some Korean scholars said Kan’s apology can be meaningless as long as Japan keeps insisting that the annexation was legal.
“Despite Kan’s apology, Japan hasn’t changed its perception that the colonization of Korea was based on international laws at the time. It can — once again — be just lip service by a Japanese leader,” said Doh See-hwan, a research fellow at the Northeast Asian History Foundation.
South Korea’s foreign ministry, however, reacted positively to Kan’s apology, saying it hopes the move will pave the way for better ties between the two neighbors.
“We hope Seoul’s relations with Tokyo will develop into a future-oriented partnership based on a correct understanding of history,” Kim Young-sun, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said in a statement.
“We pay attention to Japan’s admission that its colonization was forced upon the Korean people against their will and that Japan wanted to be frank about facing its history.”
Cheong Wa Dae said the Japanese leader asked Lee to visit in the near future, saying he wants more active exchanges between the two countries.
Lee will comment on the future of Seoul-Tokyo relations in a nationally-televised address to mark the Aug. 15 Liberation Day, according to the presidential office.
In recent decades, Japanese leaders have expressed regret for the country’s wartime aggression in Asia, including a landmark 1995 statement from then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.
But such remarks have been dismissed as insincere by the country’s Asian neighbors due to a series of controversial remarks by conservative politicians.
‘일본이 행동으로 보여주는 게 중요’
정부는 10일 일본이 한국강제병합 100년을 맞아 식민지 지배에 대한 사죄를 표명한 것에 대해 긍정적으로 화답하면서, 이 사과가 양국간 보다 긴밀한 협력관계를 이루는 토대가 되기를 바란다고 말했다.
김영선 외교통상부 대변인은 논평에서 “과거 불행했던 역사에 대한 올바른 인식과 성찰을 바탕으로 현재의 긴밀한 한일 양국 관계가 미래를 향한 동반자관계로 더욱 발전해 나갈 수 있기를 희망한다”고 밝혔다.
그는 또 “일본이 식민지배로 인해 한국에 고통을 초래했다는 점을 인정하고, 일본 스스로의 과오를 돌아보는데 솔직하고 싶다고 표명한 점에 주목한다”고 말했다.
일본의 간 나오토 총리는 사죄담화를 발표하고 나서 이명박 대통령에게 전화를 걸어 담화내용을 설명했다.
이 대통령은 통화에서 “일본이 행동으로 보여주는 게 중요하다”점을 강조했다고 김희정 청와대 대변인이 전했다.
![[INTERVIEW] Retired FSC chief finds inspiration exploring Koreans' ancestral roots](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/6642af4d9fed4cae8a8a951eedbbaa6f.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'The Flag': Kwon Jin-ah's love letter to people chasing their dreams](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/286500d853334c96ab51e56d74fe38f2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
