By Shim Jae-yun
Tension is lingering between Korea and Japan over the issue of the Dokdo islets. The Japanese government came up with an annual defense white paper claiming sovereignty over the islets in the East Sea Tuesday. A day earlier, three Japanese lawmakers were sent home without being able to fulfill their ambition of visiting Ulleung Island, the closest location to the islets.
The politicians’ acts were provocative and cunningly premeditated. They seem well aware of the weak points of Korea and its people and how they will respond to their politically-motivated showdown. They were desperate to muster support from conservative forces in Japan.
Dokdo is the very place that harbors the tragic legacy of Japan’s cruel colonialism and imperialism over the Korean Peninsula.
In any sense, it is natural to vent anger and feel severe pain when the past aggressors again try to rub salt in the wound. The Japanese lawmakers included descendants of Class-A war criminals who played a major role in killing countless people in Korea and neighboring Asian nations during World War II, in addition to the Nanjing Massacre in China in 1937.
In hindsight, the Korean government seems to be the loser in the current fight surrounding the islets. In contrast, the three lawmakers, who had been little known in Japan, have emerged victoriously. They returned home like heroes who had won a hard-fought battle. They achieved their political purpose by stealing the spotlight from the media of Korea, Japan and other nations.
Many Japanese netizens were also jubilant, describing the recent incident as a diplomatic victory for Japan while scornfully downgrading Korea and its people regarding their seemingly emotional responses.
The best way of dealing with the Japanese politicians would have been totally ignoring them regardless of their itinerary while in Korea. Such a scenario seems impossible here regrettably, due to harsh competitiveness among the mass media. If it happened in other countries, where the government enjoys support from relatively docile newspapers and broadcasters, such an incident might have failed to attract wide coverage.
Adding to the controversy were domestic politicians including Lee Jae-oh, one of the closest confidants to President Lee Myung-bak. Lee deserves criticism for his apparently politically-motivated visit to Dokdo. By initiating the Dokdo issue, both Lees have been eager to gain the upper hand over the opposition parties and the rival followers of former Grand National Party (GNP) Chairwoman Park Geun-hye since the pro-Lee figures suffered a serious setback in the elections for the party leadership during a national convention. Lee, the minister of special affairs, became the target of public criticism by playing the role of security guard on Dokdo in an apparent bid to woo public support. It is not entirely proper to seek political gains by making the most of a nationally important agenda.
President Lee failed to deal with the issue properly by ordering the entry ban. It is self-serving politics. He should have stayed away from the current dispute while delegating the case to the ministry in charge of security affairs for foreign visitors.
Some people, including former foreign minister Song Min-soon, now lawmaker of the opposition Democratic Party, suggested that the government should not have banned the entry of the lawmakers. Instead, the government should have proposed to guide them with police officers on their way to Ulleung Island. Song claimed the Japanese would not be able to accept such a proposal as it is tantamount to recognizing Korea’s practical sovereignty over the islets, a claim which makes sense.
Dokdo Safeguard, a private body for the islets, issued a statement Monday denouncing the government’s decision of barring the entry. It described the decision as political rather than the absolute value for the protection of the national territory. It decried the Korean government has become the loser in the recent game, outwitted by the Japanese side.
We need to calm down and tackle the matter in a more just and honorable manner. It is high time to totally review the policies on Dokdo weighing the possible reactions from Japan in the wake of the entry denial. We should not let Dokdo fall prey to the ambition of politicians of both Korea and Japan again.
jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr