[Second Dong-A Global Forum]Proposing a kind of 'Functional Organization' | |
[영어뉴스] 최종수정일 / 2008년 11월 15일 |
In his lecture, Prof. Stockwin offered some general reflections on the way relations have developed between Korea and Japan in recent years rather than conducting an analysis of day-to-day events in the relationship since everyone is
familiar with the difficulties in the history of Korean-Japanese relations.
To put the bilateral relationship in perspective, he focused first on the recent Japanese political situation and then
proposed some possible future developments not only between the two nations but also for the East Asia region. In the early 1990s, Japan suffered severe economic hardship following the bursting of a huge economic bubble that had been allowed to develop in the 1980s. The political system also went into a partial meltdown during the 1990s. Perhaps the most controversial action of Mr Koizumi was his repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, at which the souls of
14 individuals designated 'class A war criminals' are enshrined. These visits provoked extremely sharp reactions in
China, in the Republic of Korea, in parts of Southeast Asia, and even in the US Congress.
Looking toward the future in the region, he compared East Asia with Europe, finding the former lacking a strong and
effective regional architecture. For such a structure to exist, there would have to be a regional forum or another
institution able to command the support and confidence of each nation. According to Prof. Stockwin, it was a stroke of genius to place the World Cup both in Korea and Japan at the same time.
"There has, in my opinion, been too much manifestation of narrow nationalism both in Japan and Korea, officially in
relation to each other," but "in my experience, most ordinary Japanese people do not share such nationalism, and nor, I suspect, do most Koreans," he said, concluding his lecture.
In response, Prof. Park commented on the aggressiveness of Japanese foreign policy and the strengthening of her
military posture after the Cold War as well as the listing of Dokdo in textbooks as Japanese territory, which have had
huge repercussions on the general Korean public, including the younger generation, deepening anti-Japanese
feelings. "The problematic relation will continue to exist unless the respective nations change completely to accept
each other and treat each other respectfully," he said.
By Kim Mi-hee
sw48682@donga.ac.kr
THE DONG-A UNIVERSITY NEWSPAPER
No.1066 MONDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2008
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