The National Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning Tokyo’s repeated claim to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo and its distortion of history, calling for an end to the “provocative” moves.
With 182 lawmakers attending the plenary session, 181 voted for the resolution while one lawmaker abstained. The resolution was put to a vote four days after a special parliamentary panel on history supported it.
“We strongly condemn repeated provocations by the Japanese government that infringe on our territorial sovereignty and fabricate history,” said the resolution.
“We express our regret over (Tokyo’s) two-sided approach: On the surface, it talks about fostering a future-oriented relationship on the 50th anniversary of the normalization of ties, but behind the scenes, it distorts and fabricates history, and encroaches upon our territory.”
The resolution came after Tokyo recently published a set of foreign and defense policy papers in which it described Dokdo as part of its territory. It also approved elementary and middle school textbooks in which Dokdo was described as Japan’s islets.
“The issue of distorted history in school textbooks is fostering conflicts not only for the current generation, but also for future generations of both countries. And we express our serious regrets over it,” the resolution reads.
The resolution also lashed out at Tokyo for approving middle-school history textbooks that contain arguments about the “Imna Japanese Headquarters.”
Some in Japan have argued that Japan advanced into the southern part of the Korean Peninsula during the late fourth century and ruled part of the peninsula with the Imna Japanese Headquarters in Korea’s ancient Gaya Kingdom (A.D. 42-562).
“Talk about the Imna Japanese Headquarters represents Japan’s intention to return to its past militarism. Tokyo should immediately repent for it. We call on it to rectify (the historical distortion),” the resolution said.
The passage of the resolution reflected the growing anti-Japanese sentiment here, which has made it difficult for both governments to pursue practical cooperation in security and other areas. Washington’s push for the trilateral security cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo has also been stymied by historical animosities between the two countries.
Amid deepening public resentment, President Park Geun-hye and her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe have not been able to arrange a bilateral summit yet. Since her inauguration in February 2013, Park has met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping six times.
The conservative Tokyo government has shown a revisionist view of history, refusing to accept calls from Seoul and Beijing for more contrition regarding its wartime atrocities including the sexual enslavement of Asian women during World War II.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
