Newsletter

The Northeast Asian History Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "the Foundation") was established in September 2006. It has been five years since "the Presidential Commission on True History for Peace in Northeast Asia" and Koguryo Research Foundation were merged into the Foundation. I had some exchanges with "the Presidential Commission on True History for Peace in Northeast Asia", and I am aware of the situation leading up to the establishment of the Foundation.

In fact, the rationale behind the birth of the Foundation dates back to March 2001, when the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) approved a textbook written by Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform and later published by Fusosha. The controversial, right-wing textbook contained severe distortions regarding the history of Korea-Japan relations, with a view to instill patriotism into the minds of students by glorifying Japanese history. In response to this, the Korean government sent a letter of complaint containing 33 items to the Japanese government and urged immediate corrective action. However, the Japanese government rejected Korea's request. As such, the Korean government continued to make a strong protest again Japan, saying that it would pass a resolution to annul the "Korea-Japan Joint Declaration of Partnership Towards the 21st Century" signed in October 1998.

The then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi attempted to evade his responsibility for the controversy, citing that "Prime Minister cannot intervene with revision of textbooks which passed the screening." Moreover, he went on to make an official visit to Yasukuni Shrine on August 13 of the same year, where Japan's Class A war criminals are buried, angering both Korea and China. As a countermeasure, the Korean government set up a taskforce to deal with such rightward shift in Japan. Conscious Japanese citizens campaigned fervently for nationwide rejection of the controversial textbook under the slogan: Say No! to the textbook of Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform which beautifies Japan's attacks and war atrocities. Thanks to these efforts, the adoption rate of the textbook stood at a mere 0.039% in end-August.

Japan's Provocation over Dokdo and Historical Background of the Foundation's Establishment

At the request of the U.S. worrying the worsening Korea-Japan ties, leaders of the two countries met in September 2001 and agreed to restore bilateral relations. Both Korea and Japan made efforts to ease tensions between them. Korean media tried to portray Japan as a friendly neighbor, and the Korean government's taskforce to exclusively address Japan-related problems was dissolved. Then, I thought that remaining issues between Korea and Japan could burst out again at any time, and felt the need for establishing a permanent body to continue to deal with Japan-related issues instead of an ad-hoc taskforce.

In 2002, Korea-Japan relations improved greatly – at least on the diplomatic side – as the two countries served as joint hosts of the FIFA World Cup. There was a public perception that such joint events would help restore bilateral relations. In addition, Korean pop culture experienced great popularity in Japan, a phenomenon dubbed the "Korean wave (韓流)", starting from the end of 2003. This played a leading role in improving Korea-Japan ties, and I assumed that expansion of the Korean wave in Japan and increasing cultural exchanges would help resolve difficult issues between the two countries.

However, Korea-Japan relations took a sudden turn for the worse in March 2005 when Japan's Shimane Prefectural Assembly passed a bill designating February 22 as "Takeshima (竹島) Day". At that time, I happened to discover a number of ancient Japanese maps in which Dokdo was not marked, and mass media paid great attention to this. Shimane Prefecture's unwise behavior resulted in defining Korea-Japan relationship as a confrontational one, and Korea's North Gyeongsang Province (or Gyeongsangbuk-do) severed sister-city relations with Shimane Prefecture, which has not been restored to this day.

Controversy over distortions in Japanese history textbook was followed by another dispute over Dokdo, and the deteriorated Korea-Japan relations have continued since with no events to mend bilateral ties such as the World Cup.

A book titled "Dokdo Is Not Included in Ancient Maps of Japan" published in April 2005, carried my article, and its gist was that there is a need for a permanent research institution for Korea-Japan relations, and the person who heads it should have a strong will and conviction as well as a great enthusiasm for his/her work to correct various distortions by Japan. Fortunately, many others had similar ideas, and finally the Northeast Asian History Foundation was established to resolve historical issues among Korea, Japan and China. As I explained before, it can be said that the birth of the Foundation was triggered by Japan's intensified distortions of history starting from 2001. The ultimate goal of the Foundation lies in laying the foundation for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia by resolving historical issues (Korea-Japan / Korea-China) with extensive research and analysis.

There was a shocking incident after a few years since the Foundation was launched: Japan's new teaching guidelines for social studies textbook (for middle school students) announced in July 2008 included a line that Dokdo should be described as part of Japanese territory. Moreover, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) changed Dokdo's stutus from "Korean territory" to "undesignated sovereignty" in the same month – albeit temporarily.

Despite the fact that the BGN restored Dokdo's status before then-President Bush's visit to Seoul, the Korean government was greatly shocked by the incident and began devising countermeasures against Japan by establishing the Dokdo Research Institute under the Foundation.

Urgent Task of Developing Countermeasures against Japan's Dokdo education

In this context, the Foundation should take firm action against the situation that Dokdo is described as "Japanese territory" in all geography and social studies textbooks for middle school students in Japan. First, the Foundation needs to carry out complete overhaul of its Web site for Dokdo, to effectively respond to Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Web site on "the Issue of Takeshima". In addition, the Foundation should develop and implement plans to address Dokgo education in Japan, which will begin in full swing next year.

The Foundation recently published a reference material titled "Let's Learn More About Dokdo" and distributed it to elementary schools throughout Korea. With this brochure, I hope that Korean young students can have in-depth knowledge on the Dokdo issue and develop their own logic to refute Japan's wrongful claims over the sovereignty of Dokdo.

Times have changed, and we can no longer stick to repeatedly claiming that Dokdo is Korean territory. Instead, we should develop a reasonable rationale and collect supporting documents in order to persuade the world. Otherwise, the issue of Dokdo will only lead to disastrous consequences in the future.