ed Intellectuals' advice to Abe
Hundreds of intellectuals from around the world have issued a joint statement in Seoul reconfirming the illegality of Japan’s 1910 annexation of Korea and denouncing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s distortion of past history.
“Under Abe’s leadership, the reverse course of history is gaining momentum. We realize it is high time to step up against this revisionist move,’’ the statement said. The statement comes five years after Korean and Japanese intellectuals issued a statement which claimed that Japan’s annexation of Korea was null and void in 2010.
The statement urged Abe to offer a sincere apology for Japan’s wartime wrongdoings committed against Asian countries during his Aug. 15 speech commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
The latest statement comes as the nationalist Abe administration is trying to distort historical facts, including Japan’s sexual enslavement of women before and during World War II, amid a unilateral rightward shift. Japan’s rightwing politicians, in particular, are seeking to deny coercion in the sexual enslavement of women verified through the 1993 Kono Statement and apologies for Japan’s colonial rule offered through the 1995 Murayama Statement.
On Tuesday, Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party urged the Abe administration to take more aggressive measures to contain what it purports as “misunderstanding’’ about the sex slaves after finding flaws with the Kono Statement. Abe in response pledged to correct what’s wrong.
This is a distorted argument reneging on the historical truth and is a far cry from what is required of a responsible country.
More recently, remarks by American legislators concerning the sex slavery issue were notable. U.S. House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi told Korean lawmakers visiting Washington Tuesday that Prime Minister Abe should make a clearer statement on wartime sexual enslavement. Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also urged Japan to apologize for its past misdeeds, saying , “I’ve long fought misguided efforts to minimize the suffering endured by hundreds of thousands of women at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Army.’’
It’s disheartening then to hear that Abe’s Aug. 15 speech could fall short of expectations. Some reports say Abe will mention “aggression’’ and “self-reflection’’ in his speech but won’t mention “colonial rule’’ or “apology.’’ This is taken as meaning that Japan can reflect on its invasion of China and provocation of WWII but won’t apologize for its colonial rule of Korea, which seems aimed at isolating Korea.
Under these circumstances, it would be all but impossible to expect diplomatic progress in East Asia. Prime Minister Abe should own up to its wartime atrocities and offer a sincere apology in his Aug. 15 speech. Otherwise, Japan doesn’t deserve to be a responsible leader in the international community.