Originally published on July 22, 2020. This article introduces a dialogue between University of Tsukuba Professor Emeritus Hiroshi Furuta and international political scholar Genki Fujii on China, North Korea, South Korea, the comfort women issue, the so-called wartime labor issue, the Rising Sun Flag controversy, and U.S.–North Korea relations, focusing on what Furuta describes as slander, extortion, baseless accusations, and the absence of modern rationality.

July 22, 2020
This article was originally published on July 22, 2020.
It introduces a dialogue between Hiroshi Furuta, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba, and international political scholar Genki Fujii, published in the monthly magazine WiLL.
Their discussion addresses China’s claims regarding the origin of COVID-19, North Korea’s destruction of the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, South Korea’s positions on the comfort women issue, the so-called wartime labor issue and the Rising Sun Flag, and U.S.–North Korea negotiations.
The following translation faithfully reflects the arguments, assessments, and language of the original article as published on July 22, 2020.
【English Translation】
July 22, 2020
“They believe that if a lie is repeated a hundred times, it will become the truth, and they simply blame someone else. Their history has been one in which politics was moved by slander. And because this behavior is unconscious, it leaves an even more despicable impression.”
The following is from a special dialogue between Hiroshi Furuta, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tsukuba, and international political scholar Genki Fujii, published in the monthly magazine WiLL, which went on sale yesterday under the title “What the Japanese Media Do Not Report: Trump Will Win the U.S. Presidential Election by a Landslide.”
Hiroshi Furuta is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Korea and China, while Genki Fujii is one of the world’s foremost scholars, particularly on affairs in the United States.
This is essential reading not only for the Japanese people but for people throughout the world.
The Japanese people should immediately go to their nearest bookstore and purchase a copy.
That is because what they are saying is the truth.
It is a monthly magazine filled with truths that cannot be understood at all merely by subscribing to the Asahi Shimbun and watching news programs and talk shows on NHK and similar media.
Liberal Americans are lamenting, “Is Biden really the only candidate we have?”…
The Invisible Invasion by Premodern States
The following continues from the previous chapter.
The East of Slander, Extortion, and Baseless Accusations
Furuta: When China said, “The coronavirus originated in the United States,” I thought, “This country really does lack modern rationality.” The United States, as symbolized by the Western film High Noon, is a country that will never forgive an insult. Europe is the same. The culture of dueling remained there until the nineteenth century. Even Nietzsche once had a bullet graze his nose. The French writer Stendhal fled and was ridiculed for it. [Laughs.] The Chinese do not understand that historical sense of pride among Westerners. They believe that if a lie is repeated a hundred times, it will become the truth, and they simply blame someone else. Their history has been one in which politics was moved by slander. And because this behavior is unconscious, it leaves an even more despicable impression. What politicians in opposition parties such as the Constitutional Democratic Party and media organizations such as the Asahi Shimbun have been doing over the past several years has amounted to attempting to move politics through slander; the fact that they are all pro-China and pro-Korea is not merely a coincidence.
Fujii: There is no basis or evidence whatsoever. When something seems disadvantageous to them, they simply lie first.
Furuta: It is an expression of ancient Eastern characteristics. China and North Korea are particularly severe examples. South Korea still has relations with Western society, so it appears to speak while watching the other party’s reaction—what Koreans call “nunchi.” [Laughs.]
Fujii: Even that shallow form of modern rationality in South Korea seems likely to disappear together with the Moon administration.
Furuta: North Korea blew up the inter-Korean liaison office in Kaesong, didn’t it? Why did Kim Yo-jong go that far? I think the message was, “Don’t underestimate me just because I’m a woman.”
Fujii: I agree. A female part-time worker in my office said exactly the same thing.
Furuta: Women have a tendency to destroy things in their entirety. You know how a woman can reject someone in a single stroke and leave no lingering attachment. During World War II, Soviet female pilots were feared above all others. When male pilots fired on an enemy aircraft and saw it catch fire, they recognized it as shot down and stopped attacking. Female pilots, however, would continue firing until the aircraft was completely engulfed in flames. Women possess a larger, more “total sexuality” than men. Men tend to be interested only in parts. This relates to the work of gender-studies scholar Chizuko Ueno.
Fujii: I see.
Furuta: On the surface, the demand was to choose between fellow Koreans and the alliance with the United States. But what they really want is money. Both North and South make trouble when they are trying to extort money. Moon Jae-in immediately responded by summoning Park Jie-won—who had sent $450 million in secret funds to the North during the Kim Jong-il era—to the presidential office the day after the explosion, and on July 6 appointed him director of the National Intelligence Service, formerly the KCIA. It was a declaration of willingness to respond to the demand for money. Everything is about money.
Fujii: The comfort women issue and the so-called wartime labor issue are exactly the same.
Furuta: Another method is to make baseless accusations. In 2019, members of the South Korean National Assembly passed a resolution calling for the Rising Sun Flag to be prohibited at the Olympics, claiming that it was a “symbol of militarism.” That is a perfect example of a baseless accusation. Koreans do not understand that one must not make accusations without any basis. Many such examples can also be found in the Bible. Please refer to A Political History of the Old Testament [Shunjusha, p. 64]. Accusations made at the state level arise in countries where modern rationality has not yet been established.
Fujii: Mr. Furuta, you previously pointed out that whenever the Joseon Dynasty encountered difficulty, it resorted to delaying tactics. This time, however, the United States is employing a delaying strategy toward North Korea. At previous U.S.–North Korea summits, Trump proposed, “If you abandon your nuclear weapons, we will provide economic assistance,” but the United States has made no further demands of North Korea. If another summit takes place, the sole question will be whether North Korea compromises. North Korea itself set a deadline of the end of 2020 for reaching a conclusion, and that deadline is now causing it difficulties.
Furuta: Once again, they do not understand modern rationality. [Wry laughter.]
Fujii: From the American perspective, North Korea is a “small stumbling stone,” while China is the “large stumbling stone.” Remove the larger problem and the smaller one will naturally disappear as well. There is no need to waste energy on North Korea.
Furuta: For the time being, they should concentrate on dealing with China.
To be continued.