뉴스레터

Recently reported by the foreign press was the death of Japanese film director Oshima Nagisa (大島渚). Rising to worldwide fame for his movie In the Realm of the Senses (1976), he was the pioneer of the unique film genre where sex was portrayed as a means of challenging power (Japan's imperialism). In Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), he expressed sympathies for Koreans in a scene where the Koreans drafted to fight in the Pacific War were forced to commit hara-kiri. However, enlightened intellectuals like Oshima are little known to the Korean society under nationalistic influence where people are taught to perceive the Japanese and the Chinese as a single category.

The Outlook of East Asia in 2013

In contrast with the post-war Europe that worked toward healing the trauma of World War II and writing a common history, East Asia is sensing a premonition of war in the beginning of 2013; Japan has installed an extremely right-winged new administration that it says will never compromise when it comes to territorial and historical issues, and fighters from Japan and China are flying over their disputed territory of the Senkaku Islands (known in Chinese as Diaoyu Dao). The waves of nationalism in East Asia are still as fierce as the winter waves splashing against the rocks of Dokdo. Japan, said to be making an exit from the first division of the global age league, is falling into the temptation of nationalism. On the other hand, China as a new power is being allured into the exclusive Sinocentrism. In addition to Japan's indifference and the external (the U.S.) factor, Sinocentrism is a new element to consider from now on in the historical disputes of Northeast Asia.

While Sinocentrism is based on the traditional Sinocentric tributary order in the collective memory of the Chinese, there are social and military interpretations hidden behind it. Until the invention of rail transport, expedition was a national project that depleted a nation's power and resources. The rulers of ancient times couldn't afford to be away from the capital longer than three months (McNeill, 1982). The 'barbarians' were, therefore, those who survived by remaining outside of the range of China's expedition. What we call 'tribute' is a compromise reached when both the stronger and the weaker parties agreed on what would make sense to either of them; it would be China's best interests to keep invasions to a minimum for economical reasons, while the neighboring nations were in need of ensuring that their provocations wouldn't cross the line. For the Chinese, however, tribute is remembered as a time-honored hierarchical order. As many have pointed out, China's pride expressed without reserve during the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony is in a slow transition to China supremacy.

cannot overemphasize the serious damage that Japanese imperialism inflicted on the neighboring countries, and Japan's indifference to any of it, which contrasts sharply with how Germany brought all the Nazis to justice and gave the East a heartfelt apology after the war. Granted, a few days ago, the former Prime Minister of Japan Hatoyama Yukio (鳩山由紀夫) visited Nanjing (南京), China and apologized for the Nanjing Massacre, but it is an extremely rare occasion.

The historical disputes in Northeast Asia also have an external factor to consider: the United States of America. When the Pacific War was nearing an end, the American society called for the execution of the Japanese emperor, and proposed hard-line post-war Japan policies. E. H. Norman, an authority in Japanese history, also gave the first priority to the 'resolution of political issues' (downfall of the conservative force). (For details, refer to Norman's memo (Sept. 22, 1944), which I got hold of recently.) However, as East Asia fell into the Cold War regime, the U.S. radically changed its policies toward Japanese economy (which once challenged the U.S.) from shutting down to reviving the 'factory of East Asia' (Schaller, 1985). In the process, the resolution of political issues, including the atrocious vivo experiments, was shelved.

Changes in the 2013 East Asian History Map

Japan's indifference is blamed in part on Korea. One cannot deny that the normalization of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations has led to the prosperity Korea is enjoying today. The United States was actively involved in the negotiations that let to the normalization of Korea-Japan diplomatic relations because the nation had been under the burdens of providing aid to Korea and financing the expensive Vietnam War (Lee Won-deok, 2000). However, with their own agenda of addressing the pressing economic challenges facing the country, the Park Chung-hee group from Manchuria was desperately seeking economic aid from Japan and Manchurian-style, state-led economic development. The Kishi group of Japan, also from Manchuria, keen to embrace the Cold War system and seek to cooperate with Korea, wanted to get the issue of compensation for colonial rule over and done with as soon as possible (高崎宗司, 1996).

The agenda of the alliance between the two Manchuria groups was not limited to economic aid. Manchuria's founding ethos, overall development system, i.e. the military-led rapid construction and industrialization, and Kishi's controlled economy, and social mobilization in wartime were all brought to Korea as the important elements of running the country.

China, although they will proceed with what we call 'Northeast Project'-style slow encroachment, seems unlikely to break their close ties with Korea. By contract, tension is rising in China's relationship with Japan, the country that claimed the lives of over 10 million Chinese during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). But China has the U.S. military power (the U.S.-Japan alliance for that matter) to worry about, as they had expressed considerable anxiety over the diplomatic conflict with the U.S. (caused by the shoot-down of the U.S. surveillance plane flying over the South China Sea) during the early days of the George W. Bush administration.

Korea, the economic power that brought Sony and Japan's semiconductor industry down to their knees, and especially the highly security-conscious Park Geun-hye administration, is unlikely to back down on the Dokdo issue. But the dispute between Korea and Japan is likely to be lessened, a benefit (?) from the intense dispute between China and Japan. As for the Dokdo issue, the old pattern is likely to repeat itself—Japan making a controversial remark, and Korea denouncing the remark on a regular basis, before both countries revert to their close economic cooperation and cultural exchange. Most importantly, the leaders or younger generations of both countries are living in a time of prolonged peace when military confrontation is never considered an option. The Korea-Japan history will stay in a long-term stream, neither deteriorating nor improving. The United States, as the ally of Korea and Japan or as the partner of the G2 system, will furtively get involved in the historical conflicts in Northeast Asia that are going too far, in order to achieve the pressing goal of maintaining supremacy within the region, regardless of the change of administrations, Democratic or Republican, within the country. The Abe administration, far-right but weak, stands little chance of withstanding the pressure from the U.S. This means that the 2013 history map is likely to be placed in decades of a long stream, notwithstanding the raging waves on the surface.

Prerequisite for Coexistence and Peace in East Asia

Ultimately, coexistence and peace in East Asia lie in the hands of Asians, not any external factors. The three Northeast Asian nations have already become close economic partners. The intelligentsia of Northeast Asia needs to learn from Europeans, the mature way in which they resolved the historical issues through veritable reconciliation. If and when a dispute arises, every channel available must be put to use to resolve it. Koreans also need to broaden their horizons and break free from the trap of narrow-minded nationalism. Volatile, emotional reaction doesn't help solve historical disputes. The best solution would be consistent research through more research staff and materials. This includes ensuring independence for non-partisan and non-ideological research institutes, not the kind of state-run ones (e.g. Academia Sinica, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Academy of Korean Studies) established by Kuomintang of China, the Communist Party of China, and Lee Sun-geun of Korea.