At a special dialogue event in Seoul marking the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement, former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama spoke about the wartime labor issue and the radar-lock incident.
He argued that the wartime labor issue had not been completely resolved by the 1965 Japan-Korea Claims Agreement and criticized Japanese public opinion.
Hatoyama also expressed the view that Japan bears significant responsibility for the division of the Korean Peninsula and called for greater cooperation with South Korea.

March 31, 2019.
The following is from yesterday’s Sankei Shimbun, and the time has long since come for Yukio Hatoyama to be arrested for the crime of inviting foreign aggression and punished severely.
The following is from yesterday’s Sankei Shimbun, and the time has long since come for Yukio Hatoyama to be arrested for the crime of inviting foreign aggression and punished severely.
All Japanese citizens must not continue to overlook the fact that within opposition parties such as the Constitutional Democratic Party, which continues under a new name from the Democratic Party once led by this man, there are people who resemble agents of the Korean Peninsula or China.
At the same time, we must never forget that the Democratic Party, whose leader was such a man, was manipulated by outlets such as the Asahi Shimbun and NHK, allowed to take power, and made prime minister.
In other words, the Japanese people must deeply reflect on the fact that we once again followed the same path as before the war — being incited by Asahi and NHK and leading the nation astray.

“The wartime labor issue has not been resolved.”
Former Prime Minister Hatoyama speaks in Korea.

Seoul — Takahiro Namura.
A special dialogue event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the March First Independence Movement, which arose in resistance to Japan’s rule of the Korean Peninsula, was held in Seoul on the 29th, and former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama gave a speech.

Regarding the issue of so-called wartime laborers, Hatoyama stated that in 1991 the then Director-General of the Treaties Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shunji Yanai, answered that “individual claims themselves were not extinguished in a domestic legal sense,” and therefore the issue had not been completely and finally resolved by the Japan-Korea Claims Agreement.

However, Japan maintains the position that the issue was resolved between the two states by that agreement.

Regarding the radar-lock incident involving a South Korean naval destroyer and a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol aircraft, Hatoyama said that the Korean vessel had been rescuing a distressed North Korean fishing boat and that he did not believe there had been any intention to attack the Japanese aircraft, adding that it was not something to make a great fuss about as a dangerous incident.

He further pointed out that the real problem seemed to lie in Japanese public opinion, which he said quickly loses its composure and tilts toward a warlike atmosphere.

Meanwhile, concerning issues related to North Korea, Hatoyama expressed the view that Japan bears considerable responsibility for the division of the Korean Peninsula and emphasized that Japan should not simply support U.S. President Donald Trump completely but should also demonstrate a willingness to cooperate actively with South Korea.