'Korea should adopt two-track policy on Abe'

By Yi Whan-woo

Rep. Na Kyung-won

A two-track diplomatic strategy should be adopted by government representatives when dealing with Japan in order to pressure Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe into issuing an apology for Tokyo’s wartime atrocities, while also trying to prevent possible damage to bilateral economic relations, a lawmaker said Tuesday.

According to Rep. Na Kyung-won of the ruling Saenuri Party and chairwoman of the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, Korea should keep pressuring Abe to include sincere words of apology and remorse in his planned statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

However, she underscored the importance of handling historical and economic issues separately.

“We should continue to express our concerns about the Japanese government’s move toward historical revisionism,” she said in a radio program.

Na referred to growing speculation that nationalist Abe may omit the word “apology” from his statement.

Abe is widely seen as trying to water down an apology offered in 1995 by then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama over Japan’s state-sponsored crimes during its 1910-45 colonization of Korea.

The so-called Murayama statement has served as a pillar for bolstering Seoul-Tokyo relationship along with the Kono statement, a 1993 apology issued by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono over Tokyo’s sexual enslavement of Korean women.

Abe is instead likely to focus on the bright side of postwar Japan in his statement expected to be released on Thursday.

“The Korean people are upset that Abe may fall short of offering a sincere apology and we should put pressure on Japan by all means,” Na said.

However, she said historical disputes have also damaged bilateral cooperation on the economy, cultural exchanges and other sectors.

“We should settle such problems by employing a two-track diplomatic strategy,” she said.

The three-term lawmaker urged President Park Geun-hye to join China’s celebrations in Beijing on Sept. 3 to mark the end of WWII and the surrender of Japan to the Allies.

Park is among heads of states, including U.S. President Barack Obama, Abe and European Union leaders that Chinese President Xi Jinping invited to watch a military parade and other celebratory events.

The Western leaders are concerned that the Sept. 3 display is to demonstrate China’s growing military strength rather than commemorate the war dead.

“I think it would not be a bad idea for Park to take part in celebrations although it should be carefully decided whether she would be present at the military parade,” Na said.