ed Japanese prime minister
Tokyo needs to trim emotional deficit with Seoul
Korea has two chronic deficits with Japan. One is the trade gap, which Seoul should reduce through its technological innovation. The other is the emotional deficit, which Japan should make efforts to reduce.
Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was the finance minister who knew the nuts and bolts of balance sheets. He proposed a tax hike to reduce Japan’s record government debt. He will be smart enough to bring the soured Seoul-Tokyo deficit into the black.
But Seoul has reason to worry that the two-nation emotional deficit could instead widen under his leadership. His provocative ultra-rightist remarks have inflamed Koreans and neighboring Asians. He said that Japan's class-A war criminals convicted by the Allies were not war criminals. He made the controversial statement on Aug. 15 ― the anniversary of the Surrender of Japan in World War II and Korea's Liberation Day.
Noda demoralized the Koreans in Japan as he asked them to become naturalized before enjoying suffrage. Many of the Korean residents in Japan are the offspring of the victims of Japan's colonial rule of Korea. Japan had mobilized their parents and grandparents for its war.
He also backed the prime minister’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine where the war criminals were laid to rest. His glorification of war criminals has added pain to Japan’s war victims.
His advocacy of the use of its self-defense rights might trigger security tensions in East Asia. His independent line would be a recurring embarrassment to the United States.
The Seoul government expects the five-term Diet member to stay above his political conviction as a national leader. Even before he took power, Seoul-Tokyo ties were at their lowest ebb. Japan revised textbooks to claim the Dokdo islets as part of its territory.
Seoul does not want anything from Japan. The two countries should refrain from exchanging counterproductive and inflammatory rhetoric. Noda will no longer draw sympathy from the majority of mature Japanese. He would gain little through his unrefined statements, which only deepen the bilateral emotional schism.
In fact, he represents Japan's first generation to hone their political skills at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. Panasonic founder Konoske Matsushita established the postgraduate school with the aim of grooming a new generation of progressive leaders. He had drawn a clear line against the collusion of business and politics.
Seoul expects Japan to regain its economic vitality under his leadership. He listed government debt, deflation and the strong yen as enemies against Japan's economic takeoff. Korea also expects him to rebuild a country reeling from March’s tsunami disasters.
Noda is advised not to seek external scapegoats to hide internal woes and problems. Korea and Japan lived peacefully without war for the past thousand years, except for an unhappy half- century. He should be part of the bright side of Korea-Japan ties.