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President Roh Moo-hyun signaled no letup in Korean anger at Japan in a "letter to the people" on the Cheong Wa Dae website on Wednesday. In the letter, the president slammed Japan in unusually strong language, warning of a ¡°merciless diplomatic war with Japan¡± and vowing to "root out" the problem.
The president said Japan has been preparing the legal grounds for deploying troops overseas and discussing rearmament, moves which reminded Koreans of the past and feel insecure. Japan was obliged to exercise 60 years of restraint after its defeat in World War II.
Roh blasted a bill by the country's Shimane Prefecture designed to boost Japanese claims to Korea's Dokdo Islets and distortions of Korean history in a Japanese textbook, calling them ¡°acts designed to justify Japan¡¯s past invasions and deny the liberation of Korea." He said they took place aided and abetted by Japan¡¯s ruling class and central government.
The president said the government would no longer sit by and watch as Japan attempts to whitewash its history of invasions and colonial rule and once again establish regional hegemony.
A ¡°merciless diplomatic war with Japan¡± could break out, Roh warned. He tried to calm fears of an economic fallout for Korea if ties deteriorate, saying Korea had the capacity to withstand a fair amount of difficulties. He added a certain amount of discomfort was acceptable if matters that need to be resolved arise.
The president vowed Korea would neither retreat nor remain noncommittal since the problem needed to be rooted out once and for all. "Korea will triumph in the end," he said.
This is the first time Roh has spoken directly about recent tensions between Korea and Japan. His comments are in line with recent remarks from Cheong Wa Dae that Korea is reviewing the existing three-way alliance between Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
Core figures in the administration are promoting discussion that Korea, must break out of the pattern of confrontation between the ¡°southern alliance¡± of Korea, the U.S. and Japan with the ¡°northern alliance¡± of China, North Korea and Russia. Roh on Wednesday used similar language when he said said "the future of East Asia" depended on the Japan issue.
Any attack on Tokyo while preparing for a "diplomatic war" as differences of opinion with the Washington over the North Korean nuclear dispute grow could mean South Korea is virtually pulling out of the historic three-way relationship.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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