It's Crucial to Know and Surmount Former Colonizer

No other month has brought about so much joy and sorrow on Koreans in their modern history as August. Today, the whole nation celebrates the 64th anniversary of liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Two weeks later ― on Aug. 29 ― Korea will face ``National Humiliation Day" when it was forcefully annexed by Imperial Japan exactly 99 years ago.

Most Koreans think about their former colonizer twice a year ― on March 1 Independence Movement Day and Aug. 15 Liberation Day ― unless of course some ultra-right Japanese politicians touch their historical or territorial sore spots.

This seeming indifference to ― and ignorance of ― the neighboring giant is amazing, particularly considering most of Korea's hardships and disgraces stemmed from its loss of sovereignty to Japan. The nation was split into South and North Korea as the price of liberation and even South Korea itself is now virtually divided into two ― liberals and conservatives ― one of whose differences is how they justify the Japanese colonial days and how much they are willing to forgive pro-Japanese collaborators.

But none of these should revive anti-Japanese sentiments here, because the time has long past to let bygones be bygones. Of course, Japan ― at least its establishment ― has been far from repenting their military past and wartime atrocities.

One needs to look no further than Tokyo's refusal to unequivocally admit and apologize for the ``comfort women,'' or World War II sex slaves, despite resolutions to that effect adopted by dozens of countries, including the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. As U.S. Congressman Mike Honda, himself a third-generation Japanese-American, points out, Japan's apology ``lacks true depth.'' Japanese leaders may think time will wash away their past war crimes, but time will only strip away opportunities for forgiveness, as all victims pass away.

Still, we can't help but notice Rep. Honda, though a U.S. citizen, is of Japanese descent, a good illustration of ``good Japanese'' opposed to ``bad Japanese,'' as seen from the viewpoint of its neighbors. Likewise, it was some Japanese private groups that worked hardest to compensate for Korean victims of the Pacific War, a job even the Korean government sometimes neglects.

But there are only two groups of Koreans regarding Japan ― pro-Japanese and anti-Japanese. Most of their reactions to Japanese challenges in historical and territorial issues are also mainly emotional and transitional. This comes in stark contrast with the Japanese tactics, marked by quiet accumulation of data and development of logic, while ceaselessly testing Koreans' response to renewed provocation. A case in point is the bilateral brawl on the Dokdo islets.

President Lee Myung-bak was right to say the two neighbors should not be bound by the past too much, but seek a future-oriented relationship. But the future comes only to those who don't cease to prepare for it ― in diplomacy, too. We doubt the Lee administration ― or any of its predecessors for that matter ― have made efforts to know Japan better than Japan knows Korea. To borrow from the Israeli people's ``forgive but not forget'' axiom, Koreans seem not to forgive but forget.

Small surprise then that Korea's trade deficit over the past decade alone has reached 200 trillion won ($160 billion), more than eclipsing its surplus with the rest of the world.