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S. Korea-Japan Islets Dispute Escalates
Fri Mar 18, 1:12 PM ET World - AP Asia
By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea - The territorial dispute between South Korea (news - web sites) and Japan over uninhabited islets in the Sea of Japan escalated Friday when a South Korean city council passed a resolution staking Seoul's claim to other islands controlled by its neighbor.
The move by the Masan city council came two days after a Japanese regional government asserted Tokyo's claims to the Korean-held outcroppings called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.
Broadening the dispute to another previously contested territory, the Masan council voted Friday to mark June 19 as Daemado Day, the Korean name for Japan's Tsushima islands just 30 miles off the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula.
Some South Korean historians argue those islands considerably larger than the other disputed islets and home to 40,500 people were once controlled by Korea, and the date commemorates when Korean General Yi Jong-mu headed there in the 15th century to conquer it.
"The move is aimed at raising awareness of people at home and abroad that Daemado is our territory," the Masan council said in a statement after the vote, passed unanimously by the 29 members present.
The long-simmering territorial dispute erupted this week when a local Japanese assembly passed a bill making Feb. 22 Takeshima Day and asserting Japanese sovereignty over the Korean-held islets. The move was symbolic, but Tokyo has refused to directly repudiate the vote, enflaming intense anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea.
South Korea's government responded angrily Thursday, equating Japan's claim to the islets to its lack of remorse over its conquest of Asia in the early 20th century. Japan ruled Korea as a colony from 1910 until 1945.
As tensions rose, Japan late Thursday warned traveling citizens to avoid protests in South Korea over the territorial dispute.
The Japanese embassy in central Seoul has become a venue for daily demonstrations. On Friday, a man poured paint thinner on himself and jumped into a fire where protesters were burning Japanese flags and boxes symbolizing Japanese goods, police said. He was hospitalized but his life was not in danger, police said.
Earlier this week, two protesters cut off their own fingers.
"Various groups are holding protest rallies around the Japanese Embassy, and they are expected to continue for a while," said the Japanese travel warning, posted on the Foreign Ministry's Web site. "Please do not go near the venue of demonstrations so as not to get involved in unnecessary troubles."
South Korea's Coast Guard said it was reinforcing patrols around the disputed islets. Seoul keeps a small detachment of police on the islets, effectively controlling them, and said this week it would open them to more visitors.
The South Korean government also spurned Tokyo's attempts to soothe tensions. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Friday that Tokyo needed to do more, responding to a statement late Thursday by Japan's foreign minister that Tokyo accepts the pain it has caused in the past and sympathizes with Koreans' feelings.
"What is important is that in the future, the Japanese government show actions, not words," Ban told senior officials from the governing Uri Party, the party said.
To reinforce Seoul's claim to the territory, five South Korean lawmakers were flying Friday by helicopter to the islets and were planning to issue a statement there reaffirming the land is Korean territory, the Uri Party said.
Tokyo's travel warning comes as increasing numbers of Japanese tourists flock to South Korea.
Japan's ties with its neighbor had been warming in recent years amid growing trade, and the fight over the islets could threaten the tourism boom spawned in part by the massive popularity of a South Korean soap opera.
When I traveled in South Korea and talked to residents, it was apparent that Koreans have a deep historical hatred of the Japanese that is partly based on the anti-Korean atrocities committed by Japan during the 1930s and 40s. A similar antipathy toward Japan exists in China. It will be many generations before the animosity subsides.Kathianne said:South Korea's government responded angrily Thursday, equating Japan's claim to the islets to its lack of remorse over its conquest of Asia in the early 20th century. Japan ruled Korea as a colony from 1910 until 1945.
onedomino said:When I traveled in South Korea and talked to residents, it was apparent that Koreans have a deep historical hatred of the Japanese that is partly based on the anti-Korean atrocities committed by Japan during the 1930s and 40s. A similar antipathy toward Japan exists in China. It will be many generations before the animosity subsides.
Found this to be true on Okinawa when I was there too!onedomino said:When I traveled in South Korea and talked to residents, it was apparent that Koreans have a deep historical hatred of the Japanese that is partly based on the anti-Korean atrocities committed by Japan during the 1930s and 40s. A similar antipathy toward Japan exists in China. It will be many generations before the animosity subsides.
padisha emperor said:Korea feels hate against Japan, like said Onedomino.
Korea was devasted during the years before WWII, and during it too.
It is lke China : Chian is not crazey about Japan.
They have two things in mind : the exploitation of the country by the Europeans : British, French, Germans.....
And the second thing is the war crimes committed by Japan : Bombardment on Shangai and Nankin, the first huge bombardments on civilians, before Guernica.
So, there is tensions in this area.
I hope that the past would not rule the relations of these countries.
onedomino said:When I traveled in South Korea and talked to residents, it was apparent that Koreans have a deep historical hatred of the Japanese that is partly based on the anti-Korean atrocities committed by Japan during the 1930s and 40s. A similar antipathy toward Japan exists in China. It will be many generations before the animosity subsides.
freeandfun1 said:I lived in Korea for three years, my wife is Korean and I travel there often on business. My wife just returned from spending a month there two days ago.
Anyways, Koreans have a love hate relationship with Japan. When the ownership of Korean businesses, etc. was closed to foreigners (it didn't open up until the Asian economic crisis and IMF of 1998/99) Japan was the only country generally given an exception. The founders of both Hyundai and Samsung had their primary homes in Japan. Almost all of the Chaebols were started by Korean during the Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 so ties to Japan have always been important even in modern times. There are over 1 million Koreans living in Japan and the family ties between the two countries are actually pretty strong. I say they are like cousins. Okay to have around, but there is always one you just can't stand.
Up until a few years ago, Japanese music, movies, etc. were banned in Korea. But nowadays Japanese culture is very popular among the younger Koreans. My nephew is 18 and he loves Japanese music, etc. and has lots of Japanese friends. My niece, his sister, is 22 and hates anything Japanese (except of course, like almost all Koreans, Sushi, Sake, etc.) It's funny. Koreans claim (and in many instances it is true) that many of the best Japanese arts, etc. are copies of original Korean arts, etc. Like their pottery. Actually, I'chon in South Korea is where most of the original "Japanese" artisans were taken from to go and make pottery in Japan. There are so many customs that are similar yet unique in Asia between the two countries that I truly believe they cannot deny being related in some ancestoral manner.
