This article republishes a chapter first issued in August 2019. Based on a dialogue between Masayuki Takayama and Mutsuo Mabuchi, it examines South Korea’s removal from Japan’s white list, the Japan–Korea Claims Agreement, Japanese support for South Korea’s economy, issues surrounding Korean residents in Japan, the Kono Statement, and Japan’s security vulnerabilities.

February 25, 2020
To begin with, Korea was like the Inca Empire, a country with nothing but pottery.
Then, during the period of Japanese rule, infrastructure and the education system were developed, and railways, ports, and even factories were built for it.
Moreover, it even received money.
I am republishing a chapter I sent out on August 27, 2019.
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
A Thousand Years of Resentment
Takayama
To begin with, it was during the Koizumi Cabinet in 2004 that South Korea was certified as a white country, but the media should examine more carefully how that came about.
Mabuchi
Neither the United States nor the EU has certified South Korea as a white country.
Naturally so.
South Korea was not a country that could be trusted in terms of security, and it cannot be trusted from now on either.
Until now, a fiction had been created that South Korea stood on the front line of Japan’s security.
South Korea used that as a pretext to extort Japan.
They said that because South Korea was defending the 38th parallel, Japan should cooperate with South Korea.
Takayama
Even inside Japan, people were saying that, if things continued this way, the defense line would come down as far as Tsushima.
But for a long time, Tsushima was the defense line, and it is not as if we asked them to move it up to the 38th parallel.
Mabuchi
Some pro-South Korea people among Japanese conservatives say that we should cooperate with South Korean conservatives, but that is meaningless.
South Korean conservatives have no power at all.
Moreover, they do not defend Japan’s position.
Takayama
Even the South Korean economy exists on the basis of Japan’s cooperation.
The Miracle on the Han River is exactly that.
Mabuchi
It was realized precisely because there was money under the Japan–Korea Claims Agreement: 300 million U.S. dollars in grants, 200 million U.S. dollars in loans, and a further 300 million U.S. dollars in private loans.
Takayama
In addition to that, there was also human support from Japan.
To begin with, Korea was like the Inca Empire, a country with nothing but pottery.
Then, during the period of Japanese rule, infrastructure and the education system were developed, and railways, ports, and even factories were built for it.
Moreover, it even received money.
With what kind of thinking can they bear a misplaced grudge against Japan and call it “a thousand years of resentment”?
Mabuchi
I think the “thousand years of resentment” is directed toward their own ancestors.
Their ancestors accepted Japanese rule.
Moreover, it was an excellent rule.
South Korea still has not caught up with Japan’s level.
They imitate Japan and build high-rise hotels and buildings, but they are so fragile that people say there is a danger of collapse.
The dam in Laos also collapsed.
Are we such a pathetic people?
That leads to the thousand years of resentment.
Takayama
In the end, it goes back to ancient times.
Mabuchi
I think that is fine.
As President Trump says, each country should take responsibility for looking after itself.
If it cannot take responsibility, then the system should be changed.
North Korea and Iran are precisely the targets of that.
Disclose Real Names
Takayama
South Korea seems to be running around in confusion because it can no longer obtain U.S. cooperation as it used to.
Mabuchi
At the Japan-U.S.-South Korea talks in Bangkok, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha had a sullen expression (laughs).
It was probably an expression of dissatisfaction that, although she had expected the United States to support her, it did not take her side.
Takayama
A photograph was also published in The Japan Times, and the composition was truly funny: Kang Kyung-wha was looking away, Pompeo stood in between, and he was calling over Taro Kono, who also had a stern expression (laughs).
Mabuchi
Meanwhile, President Moon visited a precision factory in a local area and emphasized through the television screen, “We will turn this crisis into an opportunity and further develop South Korea’s economy and industry.”
They are trying to domestically produce one hundred items, but it is exactly like the North Korean method.
President Moon’s true nature is completely exposed.
Takayama
Since they themselves are saying, “We will unify and do our best,” from our side it is a matter of, “Please, go ahead.”
Japan’s opposition parties have not complained at all about this exclusion measure.
Tetsuro Fukuyama, secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party, and Haku Shinkun are Korean residents in Japan, so they should stand in between and say what needs to be said, yet they have gone so far as to say that there are “aspects that can be understood.”
Mabuchi
Senior figures such as Fukushiro Nukaga of the Japan-Korea Parliamentarians’ League and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura all looked as if they had bitten into something bitter when dealing with the South Korean lawmakers who came barging in.
Takayama
They cannot say anything.
If they offer compliments or polite diplomatic phrases, they will be beaten up by public opinion.
Japanese-American lawmakers such as U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, who lost one arm in the war, made many comments that treated Japan properly.
Mabuchi
Japanese-American lawmakers speak with America’s national interest first in mind.
However, even after naturalization, Koreans do not work for Japan.
They think first of their homeland.
It is itself strange that such people are members of the Diet.
Therefore, I think election bulletins should clearly state the fact of naturalization.
This is precisely the “people’s right to know,” and the media, which routinely use this right as a shield to justify their own outrageous words and actions, should take the lead in reporting the fact of naturalization.
What I would like Mr. Abe to do from now on is to sort out, one by one, the privileges of Korean residents in Japan in the broad sense.
One of these is the disclosure of “real names.”
Especially when someone has done something that can be charged as a crime, it should always be reported under the real name, not a common Japanese-style name.
Because of these common names, it is in fact becoming a negative for Korean residents in Japan.
When a brutal incident occurs, rumors and speculation spread, saying, “Isn’t the culprit actually a Korean resident in Japan?”
Takayama
Those predictions are not often betrayed, though (laughs).
Mabuchi
That is true in reality, but by disclosing real names, it will no longer be possible to blame all atrocious crimes on Korean residents in Japan.
Takayama
People will say, “Even though he is Japanese, he did such a thing?”
Mabuchi
In the case of members of the Diet, the fact of naturalization should be properly written under the Public Offices Election Act.
People who appear in the media also appear under Japanese names, so that area too should be changed.
Takayama
The 40th series of Mito Komon was directed by Kim Jong-su, a Korean resident in Japan.
In one episode, I was surprised when rampaging yakuza bowed down before the hollyhock crest.
Yakuza are outlaws to begin with, aren’t they? (laughs)
Japanese people absolutely do not expect yakuza to bow their heads before the crest.
Mabuchi
There are also cases in which NHK’s Taiga dramas are filmed by Korean resident directors.
Because there are many depictions that disparage Japanese people, the ratings are not good either, but it is a major problem.
Takayama
In Hojo Tokimune (2001), there is a scene in which Tokimune speaks Korean, but that could not possibly have happened.
It was an era when Korea had been subjugated by the Mongols and there was not even a Korean language (laughs).
Mabuchi
In that sense, we should make a clear distinction between Japanese people and Korean residents in Japan.
And one more thing I would like the Abe Cabinet to do as soon as possible is to scrap the Kono Statement.
Now, thanks to Trump becoming president, the previous structure of containing Japan is beginning to come apart.
In addition, in South Korea, an eccentric figure named Moon Jae-in remains in the presidency and is pushing “anti-Japan” recklessly.
Is this not a major opportunity to scrap it?
De Facto Terrorism
Takayama
However, there is something that worries me a little.
In South Korea, there are deep-rooted anti-Japan organizations, and there is a possibility that they might launch terrorism.
In other words, they are like the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
If things continue as they are, South Korea will keep falling into poverty.
Moon Jae-in also does not know where to go.
The North has no money, so there is no way to respond.
If that happens, some discontented elements may attack Japan.
Mabuchi
I agree.
For example, they might indiscriminately shoot at fishing boats approaching Takeshima.
Another possibility is that they might cause an incident on Tsushima.
They could fabricate a rumor that South Korean tourists had been murdered, and then occupy it as compensation.
Takayama
That kind of fear can be fully imagined.
Mabuchi
On August 2, the removal from the white country list was decided by the Cabinet, and since then, de facto terrorism has continued every day.
Factory fires, substation fires causing power outages, trains stopping…
It is impossible to think anything other than that someone clearly set fires.
Even in the past, whenever Japan took some measure against South Korea, terrorism broke out.
Many Japanese people did not recognize it as “terrorism.”
Takayama
Katsumi Murotani, who writes a series in Yukan Fuji, wrote that the public security authorities are showing “a posture of monitoring and containing unusual information” (August 8).
Mabuchi
The very fact that such an article exists is something to be grateful for.
And ordinary people are also beginning to notice.
At one of my lectures, a participant told me a strange story: “There had been a series of suspicious fires at a nearby factory, and when I went to the police and said that something was wrong, they suddenly stopped.”
If each and every citizen wakes up, we can prevent a considerable number of things before they happen.
Takayama
Shigeru Yoshida was a prime minister who earned the resentment of Koreans by demanding that MacArthur repatriate Korean residents in Japan and by treating Syngman Rhee with contempt.
In 2009, a suspicious fire destroyed the main building of Yoshida’s residence in Oiso.
It is said that the thousand years of resentment was involved.
Mabuchi
In particular, the security of substations connected to railways should be strengthened.
This is a crisis for Japan’s infrastructure.
The government ordinance removing South Korea from the white country list will come into force on August 28, and there is a high possibility that something will happen around that time.
Takayama
Japan has been far too defenseless until now.
Mabuchi
Japan is probably the only country in the world that is both defenseless and safe.
The number of foreigners immigrating to Japan will likely increase further, but border measures must also be thoroughly considered.
Takayama
We must make sure not to repeat the mistakes of the past.