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Japan's Shimane Prefecture on Wednesday passed a bill designating Feb. 22 "Takeshima Day" after the Japanese name for the Dokdo Islands, ignoring Korean warning of serious consequences. The Japanese government abetted the passage of the bill saying central government cannot intervene in what a regional council does. At a time when the two countries have proclaimed a friendship year marking the 40th anniversary of the normalization of ties, Japan has committed a hostile act not far from a declaration of war.
We can read in Japan’s attitude, such as provocations against the Dokto islands and its attempts to whitewash its past atrocities -- all in the face of public opinion in Korea -- the initiative of the new Japanese right to revise its peace constitution and expand the influence of the Japanese military.
They see the relationship between Korea and Japan too might develop in strange new directions now that the postwar generation has become the mainstream in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and is producing future prime ministers.
Such an idea of Japanese politicians, however, is short-sighted. As a matter of fact, Japan, the engine of the world economy, is keen on checking the rapid emergence of China, which in turn creates a dangerous vortex in the region. It is here that Korea occupies a strategic position where it can play a balancing role between the two giants. South Korea and Japan are allied also through Washington, which has close relations with both countries. For Japan to destroy that Northeast Asian security mechanism would be tantamount to suicide. If it attempted to gain small benefits because it judges that Korea is now cornered in the international community, it would only be setting itself up for greater losses in the future.
Based on its economic strength, Japan intends to assume a more important role on the international stage. It should look around at how the world sees a country that nakedly covets the territory of a neighbor to which it is historically indebted. In the meantime, Japan's whitewashing of its past atrocities and its government and Shimane Prefecture lusting after the Dokdo Islets are cooling off a relationship that has barely had time to warm up. It could take decades to recover.
The government must handle the matter with firm principles, picturing the future of Korea, Japan and Northeast Asia. It must not fall into the trap of fanning conflicts between the two countries that gain no diplomatic benefits simply out of excitement. It should take necessary and appropriate steps, one after the other, coolly examining the diplomatic means best suited to the situation and the effects they will have in the long term.
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