South Korean media demands renunciation

SEOUL — South Korean media outlets have sharply criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s attempts to revise his nation’s pacifist Constitution and are demanding a complete renunciation of war.

Kookmin Ilbo newspaper described the Abe cabinet as “extreme rightists who dream of creating a country capable of waging a war without repentance over its World War II atrocities”.

The newspaper said Japan’s Self-Defense Forces “pretended to be a military, though the forces have no right to attack any country but only to defend Japan itself”.

Newsis news agency reported a growing number of people in Japan who are in favor of the revised Constitution, though opponents to the amendment are still larger than proponents.

The news agency attributed the change in public opinion to Abe who “recently fanned the Korean Peninsula crisis” of security amid escalating tensions following the dispatch of a US supercarrier and warships.

Yonhap news agency also pointed out Abe’s politicization of security issues, saying his use of regional tensions for political purposeshas increased public consent for constitutional amendment.

Criticism of Abe’s pursuit for remilitarization was conducted by both conservative and pro- gressive media outlets.

Conservative Donga Ilbo newspaper said the pacifist Constitution represents Japan’s repentance over its past aggression, which has been positively evaluated in the world.

Liberal Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper elaborated on extreme-rightist civic groups’ support to Abe’s attempts to amend the Constitution.

The newspaper quoted a Japanese attending an event hosted by extreme-rightist groups as saying “it is high time to rearm Japan as the issue on the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs come into focus.”