Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cave Dweller]

Once again, for the umpteenth time, Korea is calling on Japan to apologize to comfort women and others in Korea for past crimes. Yesterday was 삼일절 and they do that every year, as well as 364 other days every year.

Should Japan apologize?

Let's look at a few of the facts.

-Japan did some pretty deplorable things to Korea and other countries from the late 1800s to 1945.
-Japan has been pretty much a model country since.
-Japan has paid reparations and apologized multiple times since.
-The reparation money to Korea was paid into dictator Park's hands, as per his request. He then spent it and gave very little to comfort women.


I say Japan is doing the right thing by sticking to their guns. Japan paid out huge money after the war and move forward with their future. Just because someone else doesn't find the apology acceptable doesn't mean it needs to be done again and again.

[3DR]

At this point, even if the entire government of Japan went personally to the Blue House and apologized to all Koreans on live National TV for a half an hour, it still wouldn't be good enough.

[Cave Dweller]

I get that impression sometimes.

[hellofaniceguy]

Bad, terrible things happen in wars. It's unfortunate. And they will continue to happen.
Korean soldiers are far from perfect also. As are Canadians, U.S., Aussies, British and on and on and on...
Koreans need to clean up their own back yard first; prostitution has been going on in korea long before any foreigners set foot in korea! Korean comfort women were providing comfort to korean soldiers long ago....
I am not minimizing what the Japanese soldiers did...they were wrong. But look in your own back yards koreans...

[Qonny]

Japan doesn't do themselves any favors. Well, I should say the Japanese government. Abe and the LDP are a bunch of cocks.
The Korean government also have no interest in putting this thing to bed.

[Died By Bear]

[jvalmer]

They can grant all 3rd generation Zainichi Koreans citizenship at birth. Most now have been living there for 3, or 4, generations. Right off the bat it would undermine the pro-North association.

Saying that, Korea should also grant the Hwagyo population automatic citizenship at birth if their families have been in Korea for 3 generations.

[Steelrails]

Yeah, but then there are incidents like this, which demonstrate an obvious gap in how a company in Germany would react to war victims vs. this case.

Mitsubishi offers 199 yen to former forced laborers
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/02/25/2015022501801.html


In the article it also says how the Japanese government apparently gave 99 yen to eight former forced laborers.

That's just being an ass.

The thing is, that many elements of the Japanese government have basically been forced to be dragged tooth and nail to make any kind of apology, and when they do so, it can be grudging or a "non-apology apology" or "statement of regret"(which if you think is the same as an apology, it is NOT. Go take a basic international relations/international law course and your prof will explain the difference)

Japan has apologized in a western manner in an attempt to mollify western audiences. In realpolitik terms, I don't blame them. What they haven't done is apologize in Asian terms to Asians. There is a difference. The people here know what the Japanese are up to and understand their level of sincerity.

An apology in Asian terms would mean serious humiliation for the country though, so I can understand the reasons for heads of state to make these statements and kick the can until the generation of victims has passed on.

[Sister Ray]

Abe and Park are both idiots. They both play this issue for maximum appeal to their respective conservative constituencies. There is no chance of this being resolved while either of them is in power, let alone both.

However, one thing I have noticed since moving to Japan is, contrary to popular belief, the Japanese public are, raving nationalists aside, acutely aware of their country's appalling behaviour in the colonial period.

However most, quite reasonably, view this as historical and largely irrelevant to modern Japan and resent that the Korean and Chinese Governments continually try to gain political capital from the issue.

[jvalmer]

[Who's Your Daddy?]

Do you think it would benefit Japan to apologize (again)? Wouldn't it just result in compensation claims, and no real benefit?

Although Korea/Koreans are preoccupied with Japan I don't think the reverse is true.

[mr_thehorse]

[happyinhenan]

Has the South Korean government apologised to the Vietnamese people for the antics of their soldiers in Vietnam? Probably not...

[slothrop]

edit

[andrewchon]

I don't know about whether Japan should apologize, or whether it'll do any good.

I think it will remain as it is for sometime.

I don't think Japan can afford to apologize.

1. If they did, the 'unofficial' (i.e. cultural) status of Chinese and Korean women would be raised to a level similar to the Japanese women.
2. When that happens, there will be a mass influx of continental (i.e. Chinese and Korean + Russian Far Eastern) women to Japan. Japan has the problem of declining birth rate. Fewer Japanese women are getting married. Less and less Japanese men have marital prospects. If they can't marry local, then they'll import.
3. Hand that rocks the cradle, controls the mind. Children of continental brides will be far more receptive to foreign ideas and are more likely to reject local customs and prejudices (i.e. Japanese culture).
4. Women live longer. They get the husband's property when they become widows. Japan will then become sort of like Malaysia, Vietnam, or Indonesia where the Chinese has a significant control of the country.

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