Members of Japanese rightist groups have responded angrily to President Lee Myung-bak’s demand that Japan's king apologize for the colonial rule of Korea (1910-1945).
On Tuesday, Lee said the Japanese king should sincerely apologize for Japan’s colonial rule of Korea, if he wants to visit Seoul.
The king "does not need to come," if he is going to offer an insincere apology couched in vague language, recalling the hard-to-understand, ancient wording King Akihito used in his 1990 apology, Lee said.
Lee’s remarks have ignited protests from Japanese leaders. Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said Tokyo lodged an official protest with Korea over Lee's remarks on the country's king. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also said he "cannot understand the remarks." "It is regrettable," Noda said, according to news reports.
In a telephone conversation with Yonhap news agency Thursday, an official of a Japanese rightist group said on condition of anonymity that “President Lee’s visit to Dokdo (Takeshima in Japanese) is one thing, and Lee's remarks on the king is another. “Many group members think that the latter has hurt their pride. Nobody knows what will happen in the future,” he said.
He did not rule out the possibility that some may attack Korean residents in Japan or Korean tourists.
The Japanese responded sensitively as they regard the king as an “authority,” which is distinct from “the man who takes power,” he said.