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President Roh Moo-hyun said Tuesday the government will conduct ¡°a complete review of its policies¡± in responding to Japanese attempts to claim Korea¡¯s Dokdo islets for itself. In a televised address to the nation, the president said his government ¡°will deal with the issue head-on along with Japan¡¯s distortions in its history textbooks and its prime minister¡¯s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine¡± that honors war criminals among Japan¡¯s fallen. The aim, Roh said, was ¡°to put to rest¡± the troubled history of the two neighbors, ¡°achieve a correct perception of our shared history, and preserve Korea¡¯s independence and national sovereignty.¡±
President Roh warned Korea ¡°will react strongly and sternly against any physical provocation.¡± In any future instances like Tokyo¡¯s recent plan to conduct a hydrographic survey in waters near Dokdo without Seoul¡¯s permission, Korea ¡°will continue to accuse Japan of unreasonable actions so that people around the world and the Japanese people can see what Tokyo is doing.¡± ¡°We will make continued efforts and mobilize all our national capacity and diplomatic resources until Tokyo corrects its wrongdoings,¡± Roh said. ¡°If there are other things we have to do to this end, we will make sure to do everything that needs to be done.¡± He said the problem ¡°can never be given up or negotiated, no matter at what cost or sacrifice.¡±
Turning to Korea¡¯s own efforts to register Korean names for seabed regions around Dokdo, the president said, ¡°It is our given right to register our names as Japan is unreasonably using its own names for our territory before the two countries have even agreed on the demarcation of our respective exclusive economic zones at sea.¡± Roh announced that Seoul will abandon its policy of ¡°silent diplomacy¡± on the Dokdo issue - a strategy to ignore Japanese claims to the islets - saying, ¡°As long as Japan does not give up its absurd claims and continues to use its names in our territory in the East Sea, we cannot delay resolving the demarcation problem any longer. That means we cannot deal with the Dokdo problem by a silent response.¡± Roh acknowledged this might play into the hands of Japan¡¯s attempts to inflate its claims into a territorial dispute, ¡°but to us, the Dokdo problem is not just about protecting our sovereignty over those small islets but about righting past wrongs in relations with Japan and establishing full sovereignty.¡± ¡°We must address the issue openly and squarely,¡± he said.
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Japanese lawmakers visit the Yasukuni Shrine housing memorials to war criminals including the country's wartime leader general Tojo in April 2005.
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Roh said Japan, by claiming sovereignty over Dokdo, was attempting to re-occupy territory it first seized when it occupied Korea ¡°during the aggressive war started by its imperialistic ambitions.¡± In other words, Tokyo was ¡°claiming its territorial right over its former colony.¡± That amounted to ¡°a denial of Korea¡¯s full liberation and independence,¡± he said. ¡°By doing so, Japan is justifying a history stained with crimes including the aggressive war it started and the subsequent large-scale massacres, exploitation, torture and imprisonment we suffered for 40 years, sending our men into battle against their will and forcing our women into prostitution as sex slaves for the Japanese Army.¡± He added, ¡°We can never tolerate this.¡±
¡°As long as Japan glorifies its past wrongs and claims rights based on them, our two countries can never establish friendly relations,¡± the president concluded. ¡°As long as Japan sticks to those issues, we cannot trust anything Japan says about our bilateral future and peace in East Asia, and this wall of distrust will be pulled down by neither economic interests nor cultural exchanges.¡± Roh said Korea was done seeking apologies. ¡°We only demand that Japan act on to the apologies it made so many times,¡± he said. ¡°Japan must stop insulting Korea¡¯s sovereignty and national pride by glorifying or justifying its past wrongs.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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