Koreans begin to see their history as it is.

[michael rauls]

No, I was trying to clarify the point to some of the more morally rigid who might read this thread.
I agree wholeheartedly with your point regarding the professor and the ostracising and penalizing of unpopular points of view. I live in the leftistist state in the right hand half of the country, where I'm philosophically comfortable, but I'm appalled at the unwillingness of so many of the "true believers" on my side of the aisle to even hear a conservative opinion expressed. It's like they're afraid that by being heard, it will become policy.
Cheers,
Wes

Good, I was afraid I had inadvertently given the impression that I was muddying the obvious moral lines here.
Just for further clarification because such things are important, when I said " like most things in history it's probably not so cut and dried" my thoughts were that almost certainly both narratives existed simultaneously to one degree or another.
That is there was almost certainly voluntary prostitution going on( heck it exists in every country in good times. Hard to imagine it wouldn't be going in those circumstances) but I also don't think the whole thing about forced comfort women was made up out of whole cloth either.
How prevalent each was in relationship to the other I wouldn't even begin to guess as I am admittedly the furthest thing from well informed on this issue when it comes to Korea.
One thing I can add on a closely related subject that I actually do have some knowledge of is that my wife is Philippina and much of her family still resides there and I can say with certainty that forced" comfort women" was a reality in the Philippines durring the Japanese occupation.

 

[michaelmaltby]

Recreation and Amusement Association - Wikipedia

Great link. Thanks, Shin

 

[michaelmaltby]

Full Disclosure

I rely heavily on the following source material which I thoroughly recommend

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower

 

[Shinpachi]

Koreans could be proud of fighting the Allies as Japanese citizens during the war.
They are called pro-Japanese or right wing but, whichever right or left, their weak point is that they prefer corruption when took power.
I can see no better hope for the future from this point of view as ever.
Sorry, this is almost my monologue.

 

[michaelmaltby]

Better an informed monologue than a resonating silence in the face of impending shifts, Shin.
This forum needs disciplined perspectives ... disciplined, mind you.

 

[Shinpachi]

Tribalist assaults Professor Ryu Seok-chun in his office on the 24th.
Seems not crime there.

Source: https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20190925500125

 

[Shinpachi]

Professor under assault.
Speech freedom is not easy job.

 

[Shinpachi]

Japanese patrol ship sinks North Korean fishing boat in EEZ last week. This is the second time since 2001.
Aggressive neighbors who don't mind violating the international laws.

Taiwan media reports full story in English.


Full footage on October 7, 2019



Old footage on December 22, 2001

 

[Shinpachi]

A Japanese garment CM under bashing in SK.
SK media introduces "As this CM reminds us of the comfort women, it has been removed from all media."
Korean subtitle is said to have translated "that far" as "80 years ago".
I wonder who did it.

Original CM in Japan

 

[michaelmaltby]

..... there's no honor among victims

 

[Shinpachi]

Yes, that is just what some Korean historians are concerned.

 

[Shinpachi]

How our neighbors view the Japanese Emperor's enthronement ceremony held yesterday.

Korea media reports "Japan's new emperor pledges to act according to constitution" carefully while China and Taiwan medias refer it like "Japan's Emperor Naruhito officially ascends the throne in ancient ritual" or "Japan Emperor Naruhito proclaims enthronement in ancient ceremony" which sounds friendly. Koreans still seem to mind the future military threat from Japan while Chinese seem to be interested in the "ancient" because it sometimes means the common old culture among us.

Korea


China


Taiwan

 

[Shinpachi]

Point seems to be whether paying attention to the history or not.

CNN
"Japan's new emperor formally takes the throne"


BBC
"Japan's new emperor enthroned in ancient ritual"


Euronews
"Japanese emperor publicly proclaims his enthronement in centuries-old ceremony"

 

[Shinpachi]

Some Korean high school students begin to claim "We are forced to shout anti-Japanese by teachers. Education must not be biased"

Sources:
[단독] 정치편향 교육에 맞선 인헌고 3학년들, "생기부 작성 끝나 용기냈다"
"영원히 586 주사파 종노릇 하도록 참교육"

Source: http://road3.kr/?p=23826&cat=161

 

[Shinpachi]

This is a good example how a fact is understood and spreads in the human history.

 

[Shinpachi]

Flavor of the court diplomacy in Tokyo last week.

Debut of SK PM Lee Nak-yeon.
He is a realist unlike his boss and said the next president of SK.

Sources: 이낙연 총리, 일왕 면담 이어 오늘 일본 정재계 다방면 '공공 외교' & https://news.joins.com/article/23613399

Lee Nak-yeon as a special correspondent of Dong-A Ilbo to Tokyo in 1989.

'지일파 해결사' 이낙연 국무총리

These two persons did not miss this chance to meet unofficially.
CCP's No.2 Wang Qishan and Carrie Lam as Chief Executive of HK.
A hundred stories for a hundred guests.

Source: 王岐山国家副主席が日本を訪問--人民網日本語版--人民日報

Source: 『中国の習近平主席、香港のキャリー・ラム行政長官を更迭へ』

 

[Shinpachi]

Korean game players enjoy Japanese PS4 as ever.
Interesting to me, no ban from the SK government or left wing groups who shout the anti-Japanese.

Sources:
블리치 작가가 캐릭터 그린 '신 사쿠라대전', 예약 판매 시작
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LciBe8e6NVk

 

[Shinpachi]

A friendly meeting for 10 minutes at ASEAN, Bangkok today.
It was friendly because they had nothing to say but hello like it used to be hundreds years ago.
This looks idealistic for both countries to me.

Source: 日韓首脳、タイで11分歓談 「対話で懸案解…（写真＝聯合・共同）

 

[Shinpachi]

History speaks for itself.

Seoul – A 91-year-old former "comfort woman" (*Lee Yong-soo) in South Korea has criticized weekly protest rallies in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, saying they preach hatred to young participants.
..........................
At Thursday's news conference in the southeastern city of Daegu, the nonagenarian accused the group, the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, of not using in a transparent manner donations collected from the public.
..............
"The rallies only teach young students hatred," she said, adding that young generations of South Koreans and Japanese should interact more and become friendly to each other.

Source:
Ex-'comfort woman' in South Korea criticizes weekly protests at Japanese Embassy | The Japan Times

 

[Shinpachi]

Comfort women argument between S. Korea and the U.S.

I did not know that there was an argument between SK and US about so-called "comfort women" but have come across Yonhap News in SK reporting like this today.

"Journal launches investigation into controversial claim of Harvard professor over comfort women

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. journal on Thursday said it has launched an investigation into concerns over an article that claimed Japan's wartime sexual slavery had actually been voluntary prostitution....

...An association of Korean students at Harvard University has demanded an immediate withdrawal of the paper and an apology from Ramseyer...."

Source: Journal launches investigation into controversial claim of Harvard professor over comfort women | Yonhap News Agency


The paper titled "Contracting for sex in the Pacific War" seems to be introduced like this in the internet.

"Abstract

The protracted political dispute between South Korea and Japan over the wartime brothels called "comfort stations" obscures the contractual dynamics involved. These dynamics reflected the straightforward logic of the "credible commitments" so basic to elementary game theory. The brothel owners and potential prostitutes faced a problem: the brothel needed credibly to commit to a contractual structure (i) generous enough to offset the dangers and reputational damage to the prostitute that the job entailed, while (ii) giving the prostitute an incentive to exert effort while working at a harsh job in an unobservable environment.

Realizing that the brothel owners had an incentive to exaggerate their future earnings, the women demanded a large portion of their pay upfront. Realizing that they were headed to the war zone, they demanded a relatively short maximum term. And realizing that the women had an incentive to shirk, the brothel owners demanded a contractual structure that gave women incentives to work hard. To satisfy these superficially contradictory demands, the women and brothels concluded indenture contracts that coupled (i) a large advance with one- or two-year maximum terms, with (ii) an ability for the women to leave early if they generated sufficient revenue."

Source: Contracting for sex in the Pacific War - ScienceDirect!

Contents are no surprise for the Japanese at least.