Posted on 01/30/2018 2:24:34 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
Japan has conveyed its concern to the U.S. government that a statement made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could contradict an agreement with South Korea over the “comfort women,” sources close to the matter said.
“It’s one that only they can resolve,” Tillerson told reporters this month after a 20-nation ministerial meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. “And we know that there’s more that needs to be done,” he said, referring to the issue of the Korean girls and women who were forced into Japan’s military brothels before and during the war.
Tokyo has told Washington that Tillerson’s words could give the impression that the U.S. government has expressed an understanding of South Korea’s stance. The U.S. side replied that it will take note of Japan’s position, the sources said Saturday.
The Korean Peninsula came under Japanese colonial rule in 1910.
The statement comes as South Korea has recently reignited tensions with Japan by requesting additional measures on the issue despite signing a 2015 bilateral agreement to “finally and irreversibly” resolve the protracted row. Tokyo has rejected the request.
The U.S. government sees the need for Japan and South Korea to bolster ties in the face of the rising threat posed by North Korea’s rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Tokyo has said it will work together with the United States and increase pressure on North Korea to the “maximum level.” But Tillerson’s statement raises the question of how close Tokyo and Washington are on the history-related issue, clouding trilateral relations as they deal with the North.
(Excerpt) Read more at japantimes.co.jp ...
It's not just on the "Comfort Women" issue the Japanese government hesitantly concedes any historical acknowledgment for, but their atrocities in China - the rape of Nanking, their war crimes of World War II, and the destructive nature of their occupation overall of the Korean people: which included banning the Korean language, destroying centuries worth of their art and architecture, among other things.
*ping*
Why is there “more that needs to be done”, Secretary? Practically everyone who was involved is dead.
Good job, Secretary Tillerson! The Japanese need to face up to their past and settle accounts.
There are still a few alive...and it’s just one issue on a whole list of massive grievances Japan’s neighbors have that are even on a graver scale. That’s like saying Germany shouldn’t have to acknowledge something like the Holocaust because there aren’t enough survivors left.
Dumbest thing they ever did was to paste over these crimes.
Now they still have a major part of E. Asia that either despises them for it, or are friends of convenience (enemy of my enemy).
But I guess because of the Cold War and war fatigue, we kind of let them off the hook because there were bigger problems.
I believe the Japanese and Koreans have hated each other since the Shogun days. Don't the Japs refer to Koreans as "garlic eaters?" And I bet the Koreans have some spicy names for the children of the Empire of the Rising Sun. I don't think Rex Tillerson is gonna fix that ancient rift anytime soon.
The governments of Japan and Korea came to a diplomatic agreement on this in 2015 that included acknowledgements and reparations from Japan. While I know this will never be enough, and too little too late, for some, I see little value in pot-stirring, which Tillerson has clearly done just by mentioning it. Not a smart move by him.
‘Comfort women’: Japan and South Korea hail agreement
28 December 2015
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35190464
It has been a sore point for U.S. who wants both allies to settle their difference and close ranks against NK and China. Keeping this alive is a meal ticket to both pro-North S. Koreans and militarist sympathizers in Japan.
Japan had a chance to settle it back in early 90's. But those who pushed for it did not last.
The governments of Japan and Korea came to a diplomatic agreement on this in 2015 that included acknowledgements and reparations from Japan. While I know this will never be enough, and too little too late, for some, I see little value in pot-stirring, which Tillerson has clearly done just by mentioning it. Not a smart move by him.
‘Comfort women’: Japan and South Korea hail agreement
28 December 2015
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35190464
Japan’s treatment of Americans during this period is still problematical to my thinking. The Batan Death March, and quite a few aircrew were outright executed.
They have, see my previous.
Remember the schoolbooks from 20-30 years ago? Japanese forces ‘advanced’ into Nanking. China wants payback. We got ours with the bombs on Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Japan never acknowledged their atrocities. They see themselves as victims of the war.
So it has to be on what scale for it to exceed “SJW” status? Because even worse atrocities are not being acknowledged. And it’s arguably holding back Japan’s own ability to move forward from the past as it is the entire region.
You remind me of Vladimir Putin when he told SJW Marxist-sympathizer Oliver Stone in an interview: “It seems to me that the excessive demonization of Stalin is one of the ways, one of the ways of attack on the Soviet Union and Russia. “
Stalin of course, was responsible for the deaths of millions of his OWN people and his crimes are similarly treated to the way Japan treats theirs.
Yeah, and the US needs to grovel some more about slavery and killing the Indians, right?
No doubt about it, those things happened. And we reduced all their major cities to cinders with B-29 incendiary raids, then nuked a couple second tier cities (the first tier were already gone) for good measure. Then prosecuted and jailed/hung quite a few commanders involved in the events you mentioned in war crimes trials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes#War_crimes_trials
I’m not sure what else you want, perhaps you could elaborate?
yup- what the Japs and the imperial army did in the pacific and east Asia during WWII, starting long before America got involved, was much more brutal than what the Nazi’s did...in fact the WWII Japs make todays islamists look like amateurs...
it just wasn’t as well publicized as the holocaust or today’s terrorism...
The Jap-—s- are right to object to Tillerson’s reference to “comfort women”. They were known as “comfort ladies”.
At some point the atrocities of the past have to be let go by both sides in order to move forward. China had atrocities for centuries agains many in the region .... part of why there are still so many non-Chinese who feel ill will toward China. Hell if not for 2 typhoons China would have occupied Japan centuries ago like it subjugated and made Korea a vassal state.
It’s not much different than the Middle East. Things go back so far that they remember the most recent ones and tend to forget what originally started it because it is so far in the past.
The West has been much better about these things then the rest - we write our treaties and FOR THE MOST PART put the last one behind us. Things still come up and the treaties may be poorly put together resulting in a buildup toward the next one, but we have done much better than the other regions.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.