Give me a break.

Please show me an official statement by a Japanese Prime Minister/Government Ministry that says war criminals are heroes. Please show me actual quotes from widely used textbooks that “fudge history”. I’ve been trying to find some of these for some time, and I have yet to locate any.

As for the visits to yasukuni, you must be getting your information from a somewhat skewed source. Politicians are not visiting yasukuni on August 15th because it is Korea’s national day: August 15th is the anniversary of the end of World War II, which would make it the most appropriate day to pray for the millions of war dead enshrined there. When Koizumi visited the shrine on August 15th 2006, he stated that he was praying for peace to express that war should not be repeated, and to mourn the war dead. The Japanese government has officially apologized many times for the war and has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in reparations to China and South Korea.

Here’s a recent example of what those history fudging prime ministers are saying:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20548015-23109,00.html

US-Korea relations have been the worst too since Korean war such as the allied army command right return conflict and so on. Why doesn’t your country decline Ban Ki-moon?

By the way, do you know Korea is bankrupting now? Western investers evacuated and trade balance has turned over. I predict Korea will declare default in the near future.

This is a Japan blog, so if I’m going to write about Korea, it’s in a Japan-related context. If I write about Korea, I try to stick to foreign policy issues, since I don’t speak or read Korean, nor do I know much about Korean culture. Since Japan-Korea relations have been far from friendly recently, it’s doubtful that I’ll be writing many positive things about Korea.

perhaps i was hasty in making the assumption that you hate korea… but let’s be honest. you really don’t have a single post since you started this blog that says anything positive about korea.

and no, it’s not wrong to oppose a regime like roh’s. i personally don’t like uri party either.

just glad to know now that you don’t hate korea, just the administration. i’m with you on that.

Since I dislike Ban Ki-Moon, a member of the current Roh Administration, who has participated in that administration’s active encouragement and exploitation of anti-Japanese sentiment, I hate Korea?

Is it so wrong to oppose South Korea’s nationalism-focused foreign policy? Should I be writing a post praising the members of the Roh Administration for trying to convince the South Korean people that Japan is the biggest threat to their nation’s security?

I can understand Japan’s desire to show good faith about this issue, and it will probably make the South Korean government tone down it’s anti-Japanese rage a little bit, at least in the short term. However, I think that the election of an UN Secretary general who came from one of the most anti-Japanese/anti-American South Korean administrations in recent history is not a good thing for Japan or the United States( my country).

i personally think it’s great that japan is being diplomatic and gracious enough to not want to block Ban’s nomination. if anything, maybe this will show korea that japan is willing to mend the rift that has been happening.

diplomacy requires sacrifices. with japan’s good move, now the ball’s in korea’s court for them to return the good will and good faith.