Korea was China: Softbank chief

Masayoshi Son made controversial remark in book

By Kang Seung-woo

SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son

Masayoshi Son, the Korean-Japanese founder and chairman of Japanese high-tech firm Softbank, has joined Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump over his flawed perception of Korean history.

According to his book, published in 2016 and authored by Satoshi Shima, Son said Korea belonged to China. Shima served as an aide to Son for eight years until 2014.

“The reason I am so passionate about this, because I feel this is my second home, could be my main home, I don’t know. I don’t know what nationality I am,” Satoshi quoted Son as saying in a March 11, 2014 lecture in Washington, D.C.

“I’m born in Japan with a poor family, immigrated from Korea, South Korea, way before that was China. I immigrated into the bottom of the society.”

Son, who was born on the Japanese island of Kyushu, seems to have demonstrated his connection to all three East Asian countries of Korea, Japan and China in line with his repeated interests and focus on the three countries.

It is uncertain whether the remark was just a slip of the tongue or he mistakenly thought Korea was a part of China.

Son has gained respect from Koreans for becoming a self-made, influential CEO in Japan as well as his Korean origin, but his remarks may spark outrage among Koreans, who are particularly sensitive to historical issues --especially with Japan due to Tokyo’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Throughout history, China influenced Korea culturally and historically but the former never ruled the latter.

“Deep inside the minds of some Japanese and Chinese, they seem to believe Korea was not an independent country,” said Park Gi-tae, founder of Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting a positive image of Korea.

“Son’s remarks are shocking because he is a Korean descendant. If he wrongly understands the history of Korea, we may have to make efforts to let him know the truth.”

Son may not be the first high-profile person ignorant of Korean history.

President Trump told the Wall Street Journal last month that Korea was once part of China, which he said he learned during his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“He (Xi) then went into the history of China and Korea. Not North Korea, Korea. And you know, you’re talking about thousands of years… and many wars. And Korea actually used to be a part of China. And after listening for 10 minutes I realized that… it’s not so easy,” Trump quoted his Chinese counterpart as saying.

His remarks led Seoul’s foreign ministry to work to confirm the report through diverse diplomatic channels and the ministry later issued a statement to correct Trump. Even the White House attempted to come forward to ease the complaints from Seoul, saying that Korea has been independent for thousands of years, which is also untrue in light of the 35-year occupation by Japan.

The Softbank chairman is one of the global business leaders to meet President Trump early after the latter’s election.

In December, Son met with then President-elect Trump and pledged to invest $50 billion and create 50,000 jobs in the United States.

SoftBank owns about 83 percent of U.S. telecom operator Sprint.