By Kim Heung-sook
Happy birthday, Yasuo Fukuda! And thank you for giving us a great gift when it's us that should be giving you one. Yes, you've had a busy life ever since you became one of the oldest prime ministers of Japan last year and I hope you will have a fully relaxing six days out of office. Enjoy your favorite wine and classical music and sleep as much as possible because even a 72-year-old man has lots of work to do in this Silver Age.
As Asahi Shimbun noted, your summer vacation is quite early compared to your predecessors. Some Japanese media say you need time to think about a Cabinet reshuffle, others say you have a hectic schedule later in the summer. Korean media criticize you for taking a hiding after causing a huge stir on the bilateral seas. If that's true, you are using your vacation as a diplomatic tool and I would admire you yet one more time for that.
Some Koreans are not happy with the timing of your gift and with seemingly good reason. Look at all the Dokdo-related news that inundated Constitution Day reports on Thursday. However, once they recognize what you have given us, they will appreciate your thoughtfulness, too, I believe.
Mr. Fukuda, you have presented us with what we have needed most ― one voice. Since our quick thinking President Lee Myung-bak agreed with his U.S. counterpart in April on opening our doors to American beef almost limitlessly, we have experienced divisions everywhere from elementary schools to Seoul Plaza ― people lighting candles and taking to streets and those who call for an end to such demonstrations. The long dormant confrontation between conservatives and progressives surfaced and grew intense.
If it had not been for your decision to define Dokdo in educational guidebooks as part of Japanese territory, Korea might have remained split for more weeks. However, you brought them together. North Korea came before you in helping the divided South unite, but their endeavor seriously lacked sophistication, let alone respect for human life. I can't say ``thank you'' to the North that killed an innocent tourist.
I like the subtlety you shroud yourself with as a seasoned politician. As I remember you are a son of a former prime minister and were the longest-serving chief cabinet secretary in Japan, I envy your people. ``I will think about what to think about," you were quoted as saying to reporters when asked if you would consider a Cabinet reshuffle during your vacation. I don't understand why you are not so popular in your country. I wish we had a person like you at the political helm. After all, politics is about how to say.
By nature, we Koreans are born to be diplomatic failures. We are not great pretenders or negotiators. We don't like to wrangle or provoke. We despise boasting. We believe in and tell what we have and know. We are learning the ways of the advanced world, but it should take time.
We didn't declare Dokdo is ours for the same reason we didn't argue Ullung-do is ours. They have been parts of us since the time immemorial as Jeju-do and Seoul have. Sorry about the changes in Romanization, though. We used to write ``Tok-to" and ``Dok-do" before opting for ``Dokdo." Please note, however, that it has always been "독도" in Korean.
It's true our President is a self-propelled CEO-cum-politician having too much naivete, passion, and handshakes and too little sophistication. No wonder, he has thus rushed the nation pell-mell into confusion in less than five months after he took office and we have to pay for his mistakes and blunders. However, you can't ask for an ounce of our flesh for a lesson, can you? Unless, of course, you are like Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.
Now, Mr. Fukuda, have a full rest and ``think about what to think about" from time to time. While doing that, I hope, you will remember the sighs of relief you brought to your Asian neighbors when you were appointed Japan's 91st prime minister in September last year.
P.S. to the so-called friends of Korea: Our president may be a political newcomer but he is learning the rule of game with a spiritual backup from his God. So, stop taking advantage of him.
P.S. to President Lee, please learn from the neighbors.