Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
'Video release represents Abe's political intention'
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe listens to questions from Japanese reporters at his residence on Oct. 30 after South Korea's Supreme Court ruled for Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal to compensate victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule. / Yonhap
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
A dispute is snowballing over Japan's release of footage of its warplane flying over a South Korean naval destroyer in the East Sea as reports stated the release of the video was ordered by the Japanese Prime Minister.
Japan's defense ministry released the footage last week prompting immediate protests from South Korean authorities for “threatening acts” by a Japanese plane in international waters.
Multiple Japanese media outlets reported that its defense ministry had been reluctant to release the video, concerned about generating a backlash from South Korea and further deteriorating relations, but did so on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's order.
The Sankei Shinbun reported that Abe called Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya a day before the release, to deliver the order.
This is seen as a political move amid strained relations between the countries.
South Korea's Supreme Court ruled in recent months for two Japanese firms to compensate South Korean victims of forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule. In addition, the South Korean government announced it would disband a foundation that was established according to a controversial deal on sex slaves reached between the countries in December 2015. Bilateral relations have deteriorated as Tokyo condemned the developments.
The Tokyo Shimbun, citing sources, reported that Abe was angered by the disbanding of the foundation set up to carry the sex slave deal as well as the court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to compensate Korean forced labor victims.
The Mainichi Shimbun reported that the Abe administration appeared to be using the release of the footage as a means to gain public support, amid faltering approval rates.
In the footage, the operator of the plane refers to Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) as the “Japanese navy.”
The JMSDF is not officially referred to as the Japanese navy, after the Imperial Japanese Navy was dissolved after World War II. Japan's Constitution renounced the right to use force as a means of resolving disputes after the Second World War and its self-defense forces exist only for defensive purposes.
It is the first time Japan referring to the JMSDF as a navy has been disclosed.
The reference, possibly hinting at greater military ambitions, is viewed as a move to consolidate the conservatives in Japan to bolster Abe's ratings, which dropped to below 40 percent in recent months.