By Tong Kim, Korea Times Correspondent
WASHINGTON – When Japanese Prime Minister Shinjo Abe addresses a joint session of the Congress on April 29, he is not expected to express genuine remorse or a sincere apology for Japan’s atrocities before and during World War II.He is likely to focus on joint cooperation with the U.S. regarding bilateral and global issues including security, trade, terrorism, and environment.
Nor is Mr. Abe expected to make a constructive statement on the 70th anniversaryin August, marking the end of the war, which would clarify his view of the hard facts of Japanese behavior in history. Abe is likely to make little contribution to the restoration of good relations between Japan, South Korea and China.
At the Bandung Conference in Indonesia on Wednesday, Mr. Abe simply said, “Japan has deep feelings of remorse over the past war,” without mentioning its “colonial rule” or “apology”. His omission of the critical words is not surprising in view of his own statements on the unsettling issues of history. On April 20, Abe told a Japanese TV that there should not be a need to reiterate apologies for the past.
In 2005 on the 50th anniversary of the same non-alliance conference of African and Asian countries, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi acknowledged Japan’s “colonial rule and aggression” of Asian countries and expressed “deep feelings of remorse” and “a heart-felt apology.”
In 1995, on the 50thanniversary of the end of the war, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said in anstatement of reflection, “Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations.”
Prime Minister Abe’s rationale against reiteration of admission and apology is covered by his pronounced position to uphold the statements made by the previous Japanese leaders. He sees no need to repeat them. The Yomiuri Shimbun has reported that Abe told his inner circles, “We should end up having to continue apologizing 80 to 100 years after the war.”
The problem with Abe’s position does not rest with his logic but with his sincerity. Even the very positive statements made by Japanese officials were often contradicted by some Japanese politicians’ comments rejecting them. Abe’s own statements make it hard to believe his claims that he really stands by the statements of his predecessors.
In 2007, during his first premiership, Abe denied the Japanese military’s coercion of foreign women into sexual slavery during World War II, contradicting the government’s official position until then. Later, he also questioned the common definition of aggression, saying that there was no universal agreement on the definition.
Earlier this month the Japanese prime minister made an offering to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors Japanese war dead, including 14 wartime leaders who were convicted as war criminals. In December 2014, he personally visited the shrine to pay tributes to the war dead. To the victimized countries, like Korea and China, the shrine is a symbol of aggression, even though many of them were also the victims of the wartime leaders.
After Abe’s visit to the shrine, U.S. ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and the state department said they were disappointed by it. When Ambassador Kennedy was appointed, Secretary of State John Kerry said he expected her to help bring Japan and Korea together for trilateral cooperationwith the U.S. for rebalance in Asia and deterrence against North Korean threats.
On April 16, in a joint press conference of deputy foreign ministers from the U.S., Japan and Korea, U.S. deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington was “not mediating between Japan and Korea” but “encouraging them to have the best possible relationship, because it matters to us.”
Prior to Abe’s six-minute speech in Jakarta, the state department’s spokesperson said on April 22 the U.S. “continues to emphasize the importance of approaching historical issues in a manner that promotes healing and reconciliation for all parties.”Abe again came short of offering reconciliation. Some Koreans believe Washington should press Japan to face and clear up the problem of history.
In Seoul, the Korean foreign minister expressed his government’s dissatisfaction with Abe’s latest statement that failed to set the tone for moving forward to a first long overdue summit meeting between Korea and Japan. The Japanese prime minister met briefly with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the side line of the Bandung Conference in which both leaders hoped for improved bilateral relationship.
Deterioration of government to government relationship between Korea and Japan also has contributed to the evolution of unfriendly attitudes of the people of the two countries toward each other. In Japan the younger generation have not been taught correctly about what their country did to other nations in history. Koreans, young and old, believe they are the party that was harmed and they believe Japan has yet to offer a genuine admission of historical mistakes and a sincere apology.
Will Japan ever learn from the Germans who courageously accepted the blame for the damage and suffering thattheir nation inflicted to others during the war and moved on as a welcome friend and partner to their former adversaries?