By Lee Tae-hoon
The Asian edition of Newsweek is creating a stir for running a biased article on Dokdo, Korea’s rocky islets in the East Sea, as the cover story of its latest issue.
“Why Japan and South Korea are feuding over a cluster of rocks,” ridicules Seoul’s affirmative stance over its easternmost territory, while praising Tokyo’s calm response to the former’s “crazy” and “irrational” stance.
Takashi Yokota, Newsweek’s Tokyo correspondent, suggests in the controversial article that Dokdo should not be viewed as a historical issue as “the Japanese declared them part of the Shimane Prefecture in 1905 ― five years before they annexed the Korean Peninsula.”
Yokota shows no sign of remorse for his country’s stealthy incorporation of the East Sea islets in 1905 after forcefully depriving Korea of all of its diplomatic rights even though Tokyo was acutely aware that they belonged to Korea.
Historical documents clearly indicate that Korea has exercised its sovereignty over the remote islets, rich in fishery resources, since its Shilla Dynasty in A.D. 512.
He adds fuel to the fire by adding, “It’s not that Japan is oblivious to its dark past, or unrepentant,” but it is “running out of patience with Seoul’s demands for apologies.”
But it is absurd to instruct Koreans to erase the bitter history of forfeiting its own territory from their memories and demand that those who still live in pain because of the brutal rule of imperial Japan to accept past apologies as being genuine and move on.
Yokota pretends to give a balanced view on the issue of Dokdo, to which Japan has long laid claims, by carefully juxtaposing opposing comments from officials and experts as well as his nationalistic opinions.
He argues that Tokyo has been quiet over Dokdo after Washington expressed concerns that Seoul might “do something crazy.”
Quoting a U.S. State Department cable disclosed by WikiLeaks, he argues that Thomas Schieffer, then America’s ambassador to Tokyo, told Japan’s vice foreign minister at the time that “the Koreans are behaving irrationally” and warned him that “everyone needs to back off.”
Yokota attempts to influence readers by mixing his prejudiced, “patriotic” views with selectively chosen comments that give the impression that Korea is illegally occupying the volcanic outcrops.
He wrote, “In its 1951 peace treaty with the Allied Forces, Japan relinquished much of the Korean territory it had occupied during the war,” adding that Dokdo was exempt from the deal.
He completely overlooks the fact that Japan, which unconditionally surrendered to the Allied Powers in 1945, agreed to return all of its territory “taken by violence and greed.”
Cho Tai-young, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that the Newsweek article seriously distorts the truth.
According to a diplomatic source, Seoul will send a formal letter within the next few days to Newsweek for a blatant act of misinforming the international community.
It is relief to hear that Newsweek Korea did not publish the article after reaching the conclusion that Yokota crossed the line and was attempting to push his own distorted view of the Dokdo issue.