President-elect breaks silence on Japan dispute
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol responded to criticism from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) over his alleged silence on Japan’s historical distortions.
In a press release circulated to reporters on Thursday, Yoon’s spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said that “Yoon will deal sternly with any distortion of history.”
Kim said that the president-elect has expressed multiple times, since becoming a presidential candidate that he hopes for the improvement of Korea-Japan relations, but it must be based on accurate historical recognition and reflection.
Kim’s remarks came as Yoon faced criticism from the main opposition DPK which urged the president-elect to clarify his stance on Japan’s historical distortions.
DPK floor leader Park Honggeun said on Wednesday that Japan even approved some historical distortions right after Yoon met with the Japanese ambassador to Korea, demanding Yoon declare his position on the matter.
Park alleges that Yoon’s silence on Japan’s historical revisionism in textbooks shows he is unaware of the matter and this makes the Korean public uneasy.
On Monday, Yoon met with the Japanese Ambassador to Seoul Koichi Aiboshi and expressed hope for the improvement of Korea-Japan relations in a “future-oriented approach.”
In response to the DPK’s criticism, Yoon’s spokesperson Kim said that the president-elect refrained from making a remark on the situation because it is what the incumbent president is supposed to do, as the person presently in charge of state affairs.
“Yoon believes it is his moral duty as president-elect to respect the government’s official statement on the diplomatic issue,” Kim added, expressing a regret regarding the DPK’s alleged attempt to use diplomatic matters in national politics.
The Japanese government screened and approved 239 types of textbooks for junior and senior students at high schools on Tuesday, which was the day after Yoon’s meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Korea.
Some of these textbooks are said to contain distortions of history between the two countries. For example, “Japanese military” was removed from the term “Japanese military sexual slavery,” while “coerced labor” was changed into “mobilization” or “draft.”
Such changes are against Japan’s previous acknowledgement of the coercion by the Japanese military in sexual slavery from the 1993 Kono statements. Also, the textbooks maintain descriptions of Dokdo as “Japan’s indigenous territory.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made an official statement, Thursday, that Japan’s approval of textbooks with historical distortions is regrettable and demanded corrections.