뉴스레터

For peaceful resolution of history issues in Northeast Asia, our Foundation has been inviting renowned scholars of the world in our efforts to let the world know the current situation of history disputes and also establish a continuous human network with scholars in various countries of the world. Dr. Kenneth R. Robinson, who is studying Korea's foreign relations history during the early period of Joseon Dynasty, was invited by our Foundation and conversed with the Foundation's Research Fellow LEE Myongchan who carries out researches at Dokdo Research Institute in relation to defending our sovereign rights over Dokdo. The conversation is introduced here. _ Editor's Note.

LEE : I understand that you have worked in Japan for 14 years as a professor. As an American, you would have had different feelings while living in Japan. Today I would like to discuss with you on three subjects. First, I would like you to say about Japanese people's response to Dokdo. Second, I would like to hear about Japanese people's response to the Korean wave happening around the nation recently. Lastly, I would like you to say how you felt while you were teaching students at a university for more than 10 years. First of all, could you tell Japanese people's response to Dokdo and your impression about it?

Robinson : I felt that most Japanese people did not have particular interest in Dokdo. Dokdo did not seem to attract much attention because it was not such a place as ordinary people could visit easily and the conflict surrounding Dokdo was not developing into a big issue like a war. On top of that, ordinary people do not know well about the diplomatic and foreign relations following the Meiji Reform. You will know if you compare the amount of the content for the history education in Japanese high schools dealing with Japan's forceful occupation and Russo-Japanese War after the Meiji Reform. Ordinary people and even university students know that the colonial period of Japan was not good, but they do not know the details of the problems that existed. I felt that a great majority of Japanese people were indifferent to Dokdo perhaps because of that.

LEE : But, recently Japan seems to make a lot of noise about Dokdo. Dokdo could not become a topic in Japan even 10 years ago. But recent Japanese textbooks describe that Korea occupies Dokdo unlawfully. What do you think has caused this situation?

Robinson : Perhaps it is because of the right wing's movement in Japan.

LEE : Japan's right wing has been there for long. Why have their activities become more vigorous recently? It appears that it relates to Japan's recent revision of its 'Basic Law for Education'. What is your opinion about that?

Robinson : If Japanese government regards Dokdo as part of Japan's territory and stresses it, Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology would have to follow the line as the ministry is also part of the government. Therefore, Japan's textbooks do not deal with the resources released by Taejeonggwan (equivalent to the cabinet of today) in 1870s. If the matter is to be dealt with in history textbooks, explanations should also follow. That's why their textbooks do not describe it in details. In other words, Japan treats the matter not as a historical one but simply as a territorial matter of the present.

LEE Myongchan, Research Fellow

LEE : Did you ever mention Dokdo to university students in Japan when you delivered your lectures to them? Has Dokdo ever been a discussion topice during your lectures?

Robinson : Of course, I have dealt with Dokdo in my class using a teaching material. Students were just listening silently and it did not develop into a discussion topic. No student objected to my explanation that Dokdo belonged to Korea and no one asked back if "Dokdo was a Japanese territory". It looked as if students were hearing about Dokdo for the first time in their life. The situation can be understood in a sense. As students have to learn a history of 2000 years in their high school history classes, they would not have time to discuss the details of each topic. High school teachers would rather choose to explain details about the Meiji Reform or the Sino-Japanese Wars than about Dokdo or Takeshima.

LEE : I lived in Japan for about 10 years from 1994, during which time I did not see anything at all about Korea on Japanese television until 1998. It may be fairly true that Japan was not interested in Korea at all until then. Then, Former Korean President KIM Dae-jung visited Japan in 1998 and agreed to open cultures of each other country. After that, a TV drama 'Friends' was produced where both Korean and Japanese actors and actresses appeared as main characters for the first time to the surprise of the audience. While the jointly hosted World Cup 2002 was a special occasion where Japan cooperated with Korea for an international event and even supported Korean players, even then we could not foresee the upcoming Korean wave ignited in 2004 by actor BAE Yong-jun. The Japanese response to the Korean wave after that is compared to the discovery of a nearby new continent that people had not noticed at all. How did the Korean wave start in your opinion?

Robinson : It is hard to say that there was a particular event causing the Korean Wave. But, I think Former President KIM Dae-jung's visit to Japan in 1998 had a strong influence on it. Before the presidential visit, Mr KIM Jong-pil delivered his speeches in the Japanese language in Kagoshima, Fukuoka, etc. as if he was doing 'preparatory work'. And a lot of things were made possible after Former President KIM Dae-jung visited Japan. Both Japanese and Korean governments were flexible in this matter and CHAGE and ASKA became the first Japanese people holding a concert in Korea in 2000 for the first time since the Japan's forceful occupation of Korea.

LEE : Why do you think that Former President KIM Dae-jung's visit to Japan was one of the events that contributed to the birth of the Korean Wave?

Robinson : I don't know if there was another background factor, but both the media reports and the timing of the phenomena tell that the Korean Wave relates to the presidential visit. Doors for Japanese cultures were opened which then began to be imported on a full scale after Former President KIM Dae-jung's visit to Japan. It became lawful to circulate Japanese music, movies, books, etc. in Korea. I gather that, through these, Japanese people began to have true exchanges with Koreans probably for the first time.

In other words, the history came to stop specifying individual relationships between Koreans and Japanese people. It started in areas other than history, which then influenced Japanese people to increasingly have new ideas about the history as well. This is how I have felt from the responses of Japanese friends and students.

LEE : I agree with you. The World Cup 2002 had a significant influence as well. At that time, I cheered vigorously in Japan together with Koreans, Korean students, Korean compatriots and Japanese people as well. It was not possible earlier in the past that Koreans and Japanese people cheer together. It was even harder to cheer together for soccer games. It is still vivid in my memory that I cheered for Korean players in a game together with Japanese people in Ookubo Street, Shinjuku.

Robinson : Music, movie and soccer are things that people can enjoy together. I gather that it was a 'shock' to Japanese people in a positive sense that they were sharing the Northeast Asian culture together not through things that could bring a headache but through things that they could enjoy. Until then they had been inclined toward the West so much that it could be said that they 'rediscovered' something forgotten.

Also, around the time of the World Cup, broadcasting companies with support of the Japanese government produced and/or broadcast a lot of Korean dramas and programs introducing Korea. A lot of Koreans were visiting Japan and Japan wanted to prepare for their people not to be neglected by Koreans if they themselves visited Korea.

LEE : Japan indeed had little knowledge about Korea before then. They had always been inclined to think that they would have to learn from the US, Britain and Europe until the joint holding of the World Cup 2002 which made them think that they would have to learn Korea.

Dr. Kenneth R. Robinson

Robinson : They have changed rather like 'it is okay to learn'. It could be said as a kind of mental liberation. An atmosphere was now created in which people were allowed to have interest in Korea. This resulted in the number of Japanese students in Korea exploding at that time. Particularly, the level of disharmony has diminished a lot among young people, which has a great meaning in that they are now free from the thought that they had 20 years ago. Whether as a student or tourist, it has become very popular for young people to come to Korea. It has now become a common experience among them as to the degree that they often ask, "Haven't you been to Korea yet?" Of course, the number of ordinary Japanese tourists to Korea has increased as well. Now almost every Japanese person would know about 'Myeongdong' in Korea.

LEE : 'The Korean Wave' began to form on a large scale after NHK broadcast 'Gyeoul Yeonga (Winter Sonata)' in 2004. There were talks circulating at that time among Korean students in Japan that BAE Yong-jun alone made a great achievement that even 1,000 diplomats wouldn't make with their full strength. However, 'Winter Sonata' was mainly liked by housewives who then became targets for sarcastic remarks from young people and men who called those housewives 'Obalien', a word made by combining 'Oba' meaning a middle-aged woman in Japanese and 'alien' in English. Now the Korean Wave has changed its direction where young people get excited over K-POP which is in the center of the Korean Wave. As such, the Korean Wave does not penetrate a certain class only but spreads across the board and appears to last for quite a long time.

Robinson : An acquaintance of mine is a 70 year old Japanese woman who likes Korean TV programs very much. She says that Korean dramas remind her of her life in her teenage and twenties. Perhaps Japanese people began to make exchanges with Koreans from their heart not through politics or history but through TV programs for the first time. I am not saying that there was a wall in the previous past, but saying that they were not given opportunities. In addition, the number of Korean students in Japan has increased, so Japanese university students can now make exchanges with Koreans in their universities. This has contributed to the Korean Wave being prolonged and spread widely. Currently, dubbed Korean dramas are broadcast around 10am in Tokyo. Not only famous but also minor K-POP groups are visiting Japan these days, which I think is a very good phenomenon.

LEE : Lastly, how is the Korean Wave viewed by Japanese scholars studying Korea-Japan relations or the Korean History?

Robinson : As you know, both Korean history and politics are minor areas in Japan. But, I have heard that these areas are becoming increasingly important recently with the aid of the Korean Wave. Particularly, topics like ancient history, Korea-Japan exchanges history and the Japanese colonial period have been recognized by experts in Japanese history, and the Korean history is becoming more important as more researches are carried out jointly. In fact, Professors Izumi Hajime and Okonogi Masao appeared on television to explain about North Korea-related issues, South Korean domestic politics and how Korea-US relations would affect Japan, etc. Such changes led to the establishment of the Korea-Japan Joint Committee for History. I think that the Korean Wave has provided both countries with an opportunity to study the histories and politics of both countries with an open mind.