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In a rare show of unity, Korea's ruling and opposition parties slammed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Saturday for publicly claiming that the Dokdo Islets are Japanese territory. They also called on the government to respond strongly.
Grand National Party (GNP) spokesman Park Jin said that the statement, coming fast on the heals of Koizumi's controversial visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, broke the trust between Japan and those yearning for both Japan's sincere reflection upon its past and a peaceful, prosperous age in Northeast Asia. Park characterized Koizumi's claims as "wayward foolishness," and said that there was no way to suppress one¡¯s fury.
Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) spokesman Yu Jong-pil said that Dokdo was clearly Korean territory, and "together with 70 million Koreans," he denounced Koizumi's statement as "reckless talk" that "re-invades Korea." He also called on the government to use all means available to response strongly.
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Dokdo Island Stamps to be published by the Korea Post.
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Kang Un-tae, general secretary of the MDP, criticized President Roh Moo-hyun for not responding sufficiently to the issue. He said that Koizumi's statement was not made out of the blue -- the Japanese Prime Minister had been making similar statements for several weeks, but Roh ignored them, putting all his efforts into the coming general elections.
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Dokdo Island Stamps published in 1954
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Lee Pyeong-su, the Uri Party's Public Information Secretary, said that no matter what kind of unreasonable things the Japanese say, Dokdo would forever be Korean territory.
Lee said that since the beginning of the New Year, the Japanese Prime Minister has become mesmerized by the ghosts of militarism, having visited Yasukuni Shrine, where memorial tablets to WWII war criminals are placed, and is now engaging in reckless talk about Dokdo. He expressed concern that these may be signs that Japan may be preparing to rearm due to a "new militarism" in the country. He also demanded that the government make use of all channels to protest strongly Koizumi's statement.
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