It wasn’t exactly “reparations,” but you are right that the 1965 deal was supposed to eliminate the possibility of any future complications regardling individual damages. If there are Korean individuals whose sufferings need to be compensated, the bill is on the Korean government, for Japan paid the whole sum in advance to Korea. Of course, South Korean government hid the deal to its own citizens and used up the money for the miraculous economic development Koreans are so proud of.
So, Koreans should be angry at their own government, but they’d rather blame Japan, arguing that the 1965 deal was unfair. Forget that South Korea at the time had Japanese civilian hostages. Everything was, is, and will be Japan’s fault.
Yes, Japan has been telling them “That’s over in 1965″ many times, but the Korean mentality of blaming everything on Japan is not based on a legal or logical thinking in the first place.
Indeed, in Korea even an apology made by a Japanese easily becomes a reason for more hatred against Japan. The private fund for comfort women, for example, was quickly understood in Korea as an evasive trick contrived by evil Japanese who doesn’t want to admit their government’s responsibility.
And now Kono speech, which diplomatically apologized about comfort women by admitting the government involvement with some ambiguities, is now used by Koreans as “evidence” of Japan admitting that its military spontaneously kidnapped and enslaved 200,000 innocent Korean women against their will. Of course Japanese politicians have to say that wasn’t the case. Now Koreans are mad because the Japanese are dishonest. “They apologized, but now they say they didn’t do it!”
That’s the way people are taught to think in that country. They will eternally hate Japan no matter what the Japanese say or do.
Posted on 06-Mar-07 at 8:42 am | Permalink
nighthawk said:
Sorry, I too am talking about Korean ultra-nationalists only in the above post nighthawks
see also selective outrage
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