They are now sabre-rattling over islands that are uninhabited, and neither country has much use for.. Korea has even brought out the "Comfort Women" who were abused by Japanese soldiers during the war.. A guy tried to set himslef on fire and another one had to be restarined to keep him from chopping off his own finger in protest./.. :wtf:
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200503/200503150030.html National/Politics Updated Mar.15,2005 20:15 KST
Korea, Japan on Brink of Clash
Friction over the Dokdo Islets and historical distortions in Japanese textbooks were rapidly bringing Seoul and Tokyo to the brink of a diplomatic clash on Tuesday.
Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Jong-min said Seoul would respond within two or three days if Japan's Shimane provincial council on Wedensday passes a bill designating a "Takeshima Day", after the Japanese name for the Dokdo rocks. Meanwhile, Shimane Governor Sumita Nobuyoshi on Tuesday hailed the bill at a press conference.
Kim said Seoul would "clearly reveal the principles and policies guiding its relationship with Tokyo after comprehensively reviewing bilateral relations" if the bill passes. He said the Republic of Korea exercised sovereignty over Dokdo and thus had no choice but to respond strongly.
Korea would also likely demand that Japan show "a sincere attitude", he said, over the rightwing-endorsed Fusosha textbook distorting Korean history with an eye to whitewashing Japanese atrocities.
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http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=050000&biid=2005031564918 Korea May Recall Its Ambassador to Japan
MARCH 14, 2005 21:58
by Jong-Koo Yoon (jkmas@donga.com)
Japan’s Shimane Prefectural Assembly is set to approve a bill designating February 22 as “Takeshima Day” on March 16, further straining Korea-Japan relations.
Toshiyuki Takano , Japan’s ambassador to Korea, hurriedly returned to his country Sunday. The Japanese embassy explained Monday that the ambassador left for Japan in order to report on the situations in Korea regarding the Dokdo issue and Japan’s new history textbook, and to discuss possible measures to take.
It was known that Korean government had explained to Ambassador Dakano the strict policies that Korea plans to take on these issues prior to his departure.
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Lee Tae-sik appeared on a program on Monday and said, “The possibility
could be considered.”
The Korean-Japanese Lawmakers Association sent a bipartisan group of five delegates to Japan on Monday, with Rep. Hong Jae-hyung as the group leader. The group plans to meet with the head of the Japanese-Korean Lawmakers Association and former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Nariyaki Nakayama, and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura to express concerns over the Dokdo and history textbook issues, as well as to ask them to take corrective measures.
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http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200503/200503140043.html
Japan's 'Neocons' Feel No Debt to Korea
¡°As there is Korean thinking in Korea, so there is Japanese thinking in Japan. Don¡¯t expect any changes that will transcend the current system.¡± That was what Nakagawa Shoichi told a delegation of Korean politicians who visited Japan in 2001 to protest against distortions of history in Japanese textbooks.
Four years later, Nakagawa is a core figure in the Japanese Cabinet as minister of economy, trade and industry. His comment is revealing of the mindset of a new generation of Japanese politicians. They believe there should be no more apologies, and Korea should not be shown any exceptional consideration.
The core group of young lawmakers in their 40s and 50s, dubbed "Japan's neocons", think in a completely different fashion from the ¡°boei-zoku¡± - lawmakers with close ties to the Japanese Self Defense Force - and the ethnic nationalists of the past. Core figures of the group include Abe Shinzo, 51, the acting secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and top North Korea hardliner; Ishiba Shigeru, 47, a former minister of state for Defense; Nakagawa Shoichi, 52; and 47-year-old Yamamoto Ichita, who heads the LDP team studying economic sanctions on North Korea.
Since they entered politics, they have moved past factionalism, struck alliances with lawmakers with defense links and formed their own study groups. All are confirmed proponents of changing the Japanese constitution. There are similar groups in the opposition party as well. Maehara Seiji, 48, of the Democratic Party of Japan is so hardline that he once said that if North Korea tested a Taepodong missile, Japan¡¯s Self-Defense Force would shoot it down. The bipartisan ¡°Young Lawmaker¡¯s Group for Establishing Security in the New Century¡± is the neocons' Masonic lodge.
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