Based on an article by Takahiro Namura in the Sankei Shimbun in February 2020, this piece examines South Korean media coverage that appeared to hope for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics by exploiting the spread of the novel coronavirus. It argues that this attitude is of the same nature as the anti-government and anti-Japan posture of the Asahi Shimbun, NHK, the Constitutional Democratic Party, and the Communist Party.

February 27, 2020
It is because I realized that the attitude of South Korea, and of the South Korean media, is exactly the same as the response of the Asahi Shimbun’s editorial writers, especially Junko Takahashi and others.
The following is from Sankei Shimbun News, which I found online last night.
The reason I am publishing it in this article is that I realized that the attitude of South Korea, and of the South Korean media, below is exactly the same as the response of the Asahi Shimbun’s editorial writers, especially Junko Takahashi and others.
It is also exactly the same as the attitude of opposition-party political operators such as Kiyomi Tsujimoto and Mizuho Fukushima, and of the opposition parties themselves, such as the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Communist Party.
It is also equivalent to the attitude of the people who control NHK’s news division.
Or, from around the time the second Abe administration was born,
until China, having been weakened by the U.S.-China trade war, came crawling toward Japan,
in other words, until just the other day,
it is exactly the same as China’s attitude of not showing even a single smile when meeting at international conferences and not holding even one proper summit meeting.
It is exactly the same as the attitude that showed what a propaganda country China is,
as when a young Chinese woman who was working part-time at a shop in Arashiyama at the time said, “I like all Japanese people except Prime Minister Abe.”
Do They Want the Tokyo Olympics Canceled?
The True Feelings Shown by South Korean Media over the New Pneumonia
In connection with infections in Japan caused by the novel coronavirus, South Korean media have continued from an early stage to report on the possibility of the “cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics.”
Rather than the spread of the virus, they seem to be hoping for the Olympics to be derailed because of it.
Setting aside the spread of infection in their own country, South Korean media have continued to reveal their true feelings toward the Tokyo Olympics.
(Seoul, Takahiro Namura)
Hoping for the Olympics to Be Derailed?
From the very beginning, when the virus problem began to be a concern in both Japan and South Korea, arguments for canceling the Tokyo Olympics emerged in South Korea.
South Korean media reporting on the situation inside Japan have mostly connected the virus problem with the Olympics.
This tendency became especially strong after the cruise ship Diamond Princess called at Yokohama Port.
Let us take Yonhap News TV, a news-specialized channel, as one example.
When an expert on infectious disease issues was invited and asked about infections and countermeasures on the cruise ship, a female announcer asked, “Is the impact on the Tokyo Olympics unavoidable?”
The South Korean expert did not deny it and continued speaking.
What caught the eye at that time was that the announcer tried to steer the discussion in a serious direction, while her expression showed no seriousness at all.
Rather, there was an atmosphere as if she were hoping that holding the Olympics would become difficult.
It was probably not my imagination.
I saw many similar news programs on other stations as well.
On the television screen, titles such as “Tokyo Olympics derailed” and “Olympics stumble” were always displayed.
Japan’s Misfortune Tastes Like Honey
Newspapers, too, are becoming heated over the impact on the Tokyo Olympics.
Let me give several examples.
“Japan, a ‘hygiene-advanced country,’ has completely lost face.”
“The Japanese government seems to be suffering from Olympic neurosis.”
“Many passengers and crew members became ‘Olympic hostages.’”
“Japanese society, through voluntary restraint, turned a ship carrying 3,700 people into a ‘small Wuhan.’”
All of these are from the Chosun Ilbo.
“The impression cannot be wiped away that the Abe government, the administration of Shinzo Abe, was frantically trying to hide the situation because it was conscious of the Tokyo Olympics opening five months later.”
This is from the JoongAng Ilbo.
The JoongAng Ilbo also reported that a Japanese person on board the cruise ship said, “If the Japanese government does not change its response method, the Tokyo Olympics will be impossible.
Many foreigners are supposed to come for the Olympics, but with this, the goal of becoming a tourism-oriented country cannot be achieved either.
I hope that not only South Korea but the international community will strongly raise questions with the Japanese government.”
These words were also used in a headline.
This is reporting of the sort that is always seen in South Korean media when Japan is the target,
as if they are rejoicing in Japan’s misfortune.
There is a feeling of getting carried away, and as always, they are gaining momentum.
Good Material for Damaging the Image
In daily life in South Korea, although not to this extent, there are Koreans who ask with an insinuating tone, “The Olympics are going to be difficult for Japan, aren’t they?”
To such questions, which clearly seem to hope for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics, I answer, “Even if not a single spectator comes from South Korea, the Olympic seats will be full with Japanese people alone.”
The other person falls silent.
Even if no spectators come from overseas, the seats in Japan would naturally be filled.
South Korea also understands that Japan has that level of consumer base, that is, spectators.
As of the 25th, the number of virus infections in South Korea was 977, and the number of deaths caused by infection was 10.
There were also community infections, such as infections at churches and hospitals, and the number of infected people in South Korea finally exceeded Japan’s number, including infections on the cruise ship.
Excluding infections on the cruise ship, South Korea far surpassed Japan.
Even so, the infection uproar on the cruise ship this time has become good material for South Korean media and Japan-haters to damage the image of the Tokyo Olympics.
This is clear even from South Korean media reports alone.
Excited by the “Abe Crisis”
The fact that South Korean media are “expecting” adverse effects on the Tokyo Olympics to this extent appears to be an expectation of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s failure, and they seem to regard “the failure of the Tokyo Olympics” as “Abe’s misfortune.”
In South Korea, Prime Minister Abe is regarded as a “symbol of the far right,” and the criticism of him in the media and at protest rallies against Japan is extremely severe.
He is treated completely as a villain.
South Korean media are probably excitedly hoping that this Prime Minister Abe will fall into crisis.
“The Japanese government is at a loss over how to deal with the cruise ship” (Hankyoreh).
“The Abe administration refuses to acknowledge its failures.”
“There are also concerns that the cruise ship incident may remain as the greatest stain on the Abe administration,
just as the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake is still dragging down the opposition parties.”
Both are from the JoongAng Ilbo.
They seem so happy that the Japanese government, that is, Prime Minister Abe, is likely in trouble.
A Painful Anti-Japan Provocation
At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company, the JoongAng Ilbo and others placed the headline “Japan Sinks” on their front pages.
And negative campaigns and reporting over the nuclear power plant continue even now.
Moreover, this time again, they seem to want to believe that “Japanese society as a whole is in a panic.”
Are they really so happy and pleased that Japan is in trouble?
From this South Korean media reporting, too, I can feel nothing but “painfulness.”
The South Korean newspaper reports introduced above are said to have been posted not only in Korean, but also on Japanese-language websites.
Korean expressions are direct and harsh.
They go to the trouble of translating those abusive words into Japanese and conveying them themselves to Japanese readers.
It is tantamount to picking a fight with Japanese readers.
At the same time, they are making known to the world South Korea’s distinctive “culture of shouting abuse and insults.”
I do not know whether the South Korean media themselves are aware of this.
However, such negative reporting targeting the Tokyo Olympics is likely to continue until August, when the Olympics end.
It is a strange thing to say, but as a Japanese reporter stationed in South Korea, I cannot take my eyes off this more than the Tokyo Olympics themselves.
Even as this is happening, the number of infected people in South Korea continues to increase, and it is only a matter of time before it exceeds 1,000.
As of last night, it had long since exceeded 1,000 and had reached 1,261.