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South Korean President, Park Geun Hye is currently in the United States meeting President Obama and other key members of the government.
In her address to the US Congress, given in English, she thanked the US for its enduring co-operation in maintaining security in South Korea over the past sixty years, as well as discussing South Korea’s economic future and relations with the North. As her speech drew to a close, she referred to what she calls “Asia’s paradox”, the idea that despite increasing economic dependency, political and security co-operation has shown little progress due to disagreements over their shared history.
In the Japanese media, this reference to troubled relations between East Asian states has been taken as a direct criticism of the Japanese government’s firm stance on its narration of Japan’s colonial past.
This article from the Yomiuri Shimbun was the most shared article on Facebook among Japanese users, and attracted thousands of tweets.
From Yomiuri Online:
President Park Geun Hye Criticizes Japan As “Asia’s Paradox” During US Meeting
On May 8, South Korean President Park Geun Hye gave a speech in English at a joint session between the Upper and Lower Houses and the Senate in the United States.
Regarding the regional situation in North East Asia, President Park indicated that there was constant conflict over the “history issue”, thus criticising Japan while avoiding singling out any nation by name.
During a meeting between the two leaders on April 7, following on from President Obama’s statement that “Japan ought to have a correct understanding of history”, he voiced a sense of uncertainty over the Abe administration.
While President Park indicated that economic interdependence between nations in North East Asia is increasing, little progress was being made in the areas of political and security relations due to the continuing conflict surrounding historical issues. President Park termed this current state of affairs as “Asia’s paradox”, and criticised the Japanese government’s understanding of history with the phrase, “Those who are bind to the past cannot see the future”.
Comments from Twitter:
Akira Sakurai:
Brown-noser. Park’s talking about the concept that when looking toward the future, the discord with Japan will tend to get worse due to differences in our understanding of history, but that is the way things are, and I don’t suppose there’s any other way of saying it. She probably should have said that Japan has been right all along.
無能執事:
Isn’t she embarrassed to say “Those who are blind to the past history cannot see the future”?
家電量販店:
So does she think that if she criticises Japan so soon after the inauguration, her government will go on lasting for a long time?
のんのん:
How dare she make a speech, boldly waving about that fabricated history. I can’t believe it.
わ:
Seriously, just go do something with your other insane friends in the Far East! Has Japan ever criticised you lot in public? We haven’t, have we? It’s only you lot who keep barking on about outrageous things.
GOEB03:
What the fuck is this old Korean hag.
DC:
To use an important meeting with the President of the United States on such pointless things…when there were things like the North Korean issue and the FTA that they should have been talking about…is she stupid?
セイユ:
From now on, it’s better that we don’t involve ourselves with South Korea, North Korea, or China.
ルナパパ（バルーンモーリー）:
Hah, all that when they don’t even recognise the paradox of their own country.
オシシ仮面:
So the correct understanding of history is one in which we kowtow to Korea for the rest of eternity? Give it a fucking rest.
ＤＴＫ:
Nah, come on, Park is amazing! “Those who are blind to the past cannot see the future”– if so, then Korea has no future. She went to all the trouble of this self-reflection in a meeting with the American president w!
連邦軍 ＠へたれ極貧 ほぼノートレーダー:
Throughout almost every period in history, the Korean peninsula has been a vassal state of China, and was politically, socially, and culturally enslaved, and now it’s a vassal state of the US. The country is just a barking pet dog, will the day ever come when it’s a real independent state?
gezigezi:
The stupid thing about South Korea, is that it insists that colonial domination was a bad thing. Back then, every advanced country worth its salt had colonies. Obviously, that includes America. Are all those countries your enemies?
burung_biru:
☆Yup, it’s true, there is definitely a “paradox” in Asia, the sort where any debt of kindness to Japan for economic aid is forgotten.
g1123:
She’s no different from the old women in my neighbourhood who go around bitching about stuff! While the Japanese government is saying we should handle it like adults, lies are being made into the truth. We have to deal with this before it’s too late!
soilsone:
The foundation of Korea’s present economic development is based on the social infrastructure built during the colonial period by Japan and on the economic aid from Japan in the postwar period. Furthermore, Korea is built on the flows of pioneering technology that came from Japan.
Well, if this is what the leader of the country is like….let’s just sever relations with them as soon as we can!
ひさ:
So it’s getting interesting now〜
If America starts complaining about us because of this, we’ll be a sakoku [closed nation] again.
みゃ~男:
So might we possibly ask that your researchers and students in Japan return home? If you’re going to twist everything, then it’s better we’re straight forward about things.
