Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Seoul, Tokyo step up 'media war'
The headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Korea Times file
By Park Ji-won
Two governments spreading respective positions on wartime history conflict
By Park Ji-won
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is continuing to fight Japan through international media in a move to convince the international community that Tokyo is in the wrong in the ongoing trade dispute with Seoul.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim In-chul wrote an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal ― published Friday ― claiming that Japan was not keeping the bilateral agreement normalizing ties with Korea signed in 1965 while Seoul was being faithful to it.
In the piece, Kim highlighted that Korea's Supreme Court ruling that ordered Japanese firms to compensate surviving Koreans who were forced to work for them during colonial rule did not violate the 1965 bilateral treaty, adding that Tokyo had also promoted individual's rights to settlement claims. Kim criticized Japan's opinion piece published Aug. 22 in the same newspaper, titled, “Japan is adhering to its treaty with Korea” by Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Takeshi Osuga.
Kim said that “Unfortunately, Japan has stonewalled dialogue and instead retaliated on the trade front, while propagating its unilateral claim that Korea is violating international law. At the heart of the problem is Japan's historical revisionism and unwillingness to fully come to terms with the past,” adding, “We stand ready to engage in dialogue with Japan to overcome the challenges and work together toward a shared future.”
Kim's contribution to an international newspaper came after Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Kono wrote an opinion piece for Bloomberg, Aug. 4. In the article titled, “The real issue between Japan and South Korea is trust,” Kono said that Korea's ordering Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims went against the treaty. The Japanese government has been claiming that its recent measure to remove Korea from its trusted trading partners list was not in response to the court ruling. Kono also reiterated these views in the Bangkok Post.
The two countries' foreign ministry officials are stepping up efforts to convince the international community, amid a tit-for-tat dispute over trade and historical issues through international media. Japan began taking allegedly retaliatory measures against Korea by removing Seoul from its trading whitelist while Korea decided not to extend its military intelligence sharing pact with Tokyo citing a lack of trust.
Seoul has stepped up efforts to highlight Japan's rigid position and refusal to negotiate. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha also appeared in a talk show on the BBC in Aug. 21 saying “We want to minimize the issues, and I think given the Japanese rationale now that trade control issues are really technical issues on the part of their export industries we are saying ok fine, let's discuss it at that level and work through the technical issues. We have not had any response from the Japanese on that.”
In addition, the Korean government is trying to spread news on Japan's “contaminated water issue.”
The government sent an open letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urging it to play a role to stop Japan from dumping radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Government officials stress the environmental issues that directly affect people's health at the upcoming IAEA general conference from Sept. 16 to 20.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government reportedly plans to name Kono as the chief of its defense ministry in a move to take a more hawkish approach against Korea, a local newspaper reported Sunday.
The Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese conservative newspaper, reported that Kono will succeed current Defense Minster Takeshi Iwaya for his tough stance against Korea over historical and trade issues.
The Yomiuri, another conservative media outlet, reported Wednesday that economy minister Toshimitsu Motegi will replace Kono as foreign minister in the reshuffle planned for Sep 11.