Premature optimism

Japan ought to show sincerity not in words but in deeds

Foreigners who interact with Japanese people often find the latter’s seeming duplicity _ shown in ``honne” (inner feeling) and ``tatemae” (expressed opinion) _ quite embarrassing. This is even more

conspicuous

if the Japanese government, not individuals, shows such inconsistency.

And this is how most Koreans perceived diplomatic remarks made by Japanese leaders over the weekend.

On Friday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government would not

revise

a landmark 1993 apology to women forced to work in Japanese military brothels during World War II. This was the first time since he took office more than a year ago that Premier Abe made it clear his right-wing Cabinet would

uphold

the apology.

Later in the day, however, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, reaffirmed Tokyo’s position that it would review the testimony of 16 Korean women used in the governmental apology called the ``Kono Statement.” For what should Japan review the testimony if it will not revise the statement? As Koreans see it, Abe’s remark was Tokyo’s ``tatemae,” while Suga’s comment was its ``honne.”

Premier Abe himself also

reiterate

d his lifelong wish to ``get rid of the pacifist constitution system” written and enforced by the occupying U.S. forces, once again revealing his ``honne.”

So it was somewhat hasty for President Park Geun-hye to respond favorably to Abe’s remark the following day, commenting, ``It’s a good thing.” Some Japanese media outlets issued optimistic reports that the two leaders _ or three, including U.S. President Barack Obama _ will meet on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit in The Hague next week. Despite Cheong Wa Dae’s official denial of any such intentions, some diplomatic watchers here also stress the need to break the impasse.

It may appear unnecessary, and unwise, for the sides to lose hard-won momentum to break the ice. However, if Park and Abe hold a summit for just the sake of doing so, especially under pressure from Washington, and Japan relapses into historical revisionism later, their bilateral ties will only become worse, not better.

To restore the strained relationship, the Japanese leader and his Cabinet should show more sincerity, not in words but in deeds. The Blue House was right in this regard to rule out the possibility for the two leaders having anything more than casual greetings and some chats next week. A week is too short a time for Seoul and Tokyo to iron out even the slightest differences between them over historical and territorial issues.

Korea may need to separate historical issues from economic and security matters when dealing with Japan. But there will be clear limitations to cooperation in other areas unless Tokyo shows meaningful progress on historical issues, to which Seoul must maintain a

discipline

d stance.

President Park needs to think about the meaning of recent opinion polls, which found that a majority of South Koreans regard Abe as a potentially more harmful leader for their country than even North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

The Korean leader might also as well recall the symbolism of the Dutch city, where Yi Jun, a Korean diplomat, died 107 years ago while attempting to let the entire world know about Japan’s unlawful invasion of Korea.

3월 18일자 The Korea Times 사설

※ 다음에 나오는 문제들은 본 기사에 나오는 중요한 어휘들로 구성된 토익, 토플, 텝스 기출 및 예상 문제입니다.

※ Choose the one word or phrase that best keeps the meaning of the highlighted part or fill in the blank with a suitable one.

1. If something can be easily seen, we say that it is

.

① picturesque

② desolate

③ vigorous

④ highly visible

2. The

revised

proposal was debated.

① distasteful

② rejected

③ reviewed

④ amended

3. During the Civil War, the Southern states fought many desperate battles to

their asserted right to secede from the Union.

① improve

② preserve

③ detect

④ supply

4. Historical records show that Einstein

reiterated

his ideas about the theory of relativity.

① changed

② repeated

③ published

④ theorized

⑤ formulated

5.Biochemistry is a new kind of science involving at least two different

disciplines

, which is called "interdisciplinary."

① groups of followers

② years

③ countries

④ fields of study

[해설 및 정답]

1.[번역] 만일 뭔가를 쉽게 볼 수 있다면, 우리는 그것은

눈에 잘 띈

다고 말한다.

[어휘] conspicuous 눈에 잘 띄는, 두드러진, 현저한(clearly visible, prominent, noticeable, striking, marked, pronounced, outstanding, remarkable)

[정답] ④

2. [번역]

수정된

그 제안이 논의되었다.

[어휘] revise 개정, 수정, 교정하다(amend, modify, revamp, rectify, change, alter, correct)

3. [번역] 남북전쟁 동안, 남부의 주들은 연맹으로부터 탈퇴하겠다는 그들이 주장한 권리를

유지하기

위해 수 많은 필사적인 전투에서 싸웠다.

[정답] ②

4. [번역] 역사상의 기록을 보면 아인슈타인이 상대성 이론에 대한 자신의 아이디어를

되풀이했다

는 것을 보여주고 있다.

5. [번역] 생화학은 ‘연계학문적(학제적)’이라고 불리는 적어도 둘 이상의

학문의 분야

를 포함한 새로운 종류의 학문이다.