July 10, 2001
S. Korea, Japan Dispute Could Hurt Ties
By PAUL SHIN, Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - President Kim Dae-jung said Tuesday he was "shocked" by Japan's refusal to revise its controversial history textbooks and warned that the issue could imperil ties between the two countries.
Kim made the remarks after briefings on Japan's official rejection a day earlier of Seoul's demand for revision of textbooks that critics say whitewash Japan's wartime atrocities.
"How can people who lack correct knowledge of their country's history promote friendship with people of other neighboring countries?" Kim said in released remarks. "We can't condone this situation. Our government will continue to demand revision of the history textbooks."
Japan angered South Korea and other Asian countries in April by approving eight middle school textbooks, including one written by nationalist scholars who deny Japan committed documented atrocities during World War II.
In June, South Korea asked Japan to revise 35 textbook passages that it believes gloss over atrocities committed during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-1945.
South Korea was upset by the failure of those textbooks to mention tens of thousands of Korean and other Asian women who were forced to serve as sexual slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Japan responded Monday by informing Seoul that it can revise only two of the 35 disputed passages. Seoul officials say the two proposed revisions are of relatively lesser significance to them.
President Kim showed his anger by refusing to meet a high-level Japanese delegation dispatched to seek Seoul's understanding of Tokyo's textbook decision.
The controversy was a setback for Kim, who visited Japan in 1998 and pledged to put the issue of the countries' thorny history to rest.
"I am shocked at the thought that all efforts I have made so far to build a truly friendly relationship with Japan may have to go back to square one," Kim said.
Japan and South Korea are close economic partners and co-hosts of next year's soccer World Cup.
Any retaliatory options South Korea may take would be largely symbolic. It called off joint naval exercises with Japan in June and may reconsider a schedule to open its market wider to Japanese culture, including videos and films.
South Korea also is likely to freeze or slow exchanges of visits of high-level officials with Japan. But it cannot afford to allow the rift to affect the economic sector.
Japan is South Korea's second largest trading partner after the United States and its largest source of raw materials and capital goods.
Anti-Japanese feeling runs deep, especially among older Koreans who vividly remember how they suffered during Japanese rule. They were forced to adopt Japanese names and banned from speaking Korean in school.