뉴스레터

In 1995 when the late Kim Young-sam was serving as president, the South Korean government announced its plan to build a pier on the island of Dokdo. Once construction began in February 1996, the relations between South Korea and Japan grew tense as the Japanese foreign minister Ikeda Yukihiko (池田行彦) argued that “Takeshima (竹島, Japanese name for Dokdo) is Japanese territory.” South Koreans at the time denounced the high-ranking Japanese official’s words as a “preposterous remark” and staged a boycott against Japanese goods. Civic groups and college student councils in Korea launched campaigns over the matter and distributed badges with the phrase “Dokdo is our [Korean] territory.”

Having been a graduate student back then, I remember how most students in graduate school took part in protests by attaching such badges to their jackets or backpacks. There were a couple of Japanese students attending our school at the time and one of them brazenly wore a “Dokdo is our territory” badge on her chest. When a few guys tried to make fun of her by asking whether she was aware of what the phrase meant, she retorted, “To me, Dokdo is our [Japanese] territory.” It became an incident that always comes to mind whenever I encounter Japanese claims over the territorial sovereignty of Dokdo. And it almost seems to be a trick of fate to later learn from experts on Japan that the very Japanese student who wore that badge back then became a pretty well-known “anti-Korean” scholar after returning to her home country.

A Sketch of Shimane Prefecture on the 12th Takeshima Day

Twenty years after my days in graduate school, I came by the opportunity in 2017 to attend the Takeshima Day ceremony held each year on February 22 at Shimane Prefecture in Japan. Around the time, I was already in Japan to receive training at Keio University that had begun the previous year, and once it occurred to me that I may never get another chance to personally witness the ceremony, I boarded a flight headed for the city of Yonago on February 21.

Shimane Prefecture on the day before Takeshima Day seemed tranquil. Not one banner in celebration of the occasion was to be found downtown. Although there were some policemen nearby the civic center where the ceremony takes place and at a couple of other locations around town, not much else seemed to be going on. The residents were going through an ordinary day with looks on their faces that seemed to say that “Tomorrow [Takeshima Day] will be just another day.” Nonetheless, tension could be felt around the prefecture from the morning of February 22. A few people in pale, sky blue shirts and navy suits appeared at the hotel restaurant. It was pretty obvious that they were parliamentary members who had come for the Takeshima Day ceremony. Among them was Shindo Yoshitaka (新藤義孝) of the Liberal Democratic Party who is frequently featured in South Korean media as the head of the "Parliamentarians League to Take Action to Protect Japanese Territory."

There was a bit of commotion around the hotel because members of the well-known right wing group called the Association of Citizens against the Special Privileges of the Zainichi (在日特権を許さない市民の会) was riding back and forth between the prefecture’s archives and the civic center in vehicles blaring slogans to encourage participation from the residents. The right wing group’s former president Sakurai Makoto (桜井誠), who once ran for the governorship of Tokyo Metropolis, also personally showed up at Shimane Prefecture for occasion. They all seemed guarded against the number of policemen that had multiplied since the previous day, but no major clashes occurred. Some residents would stop in their steps from time to time out of slight curiosity, but none showed much interest in what was going on.

Chairman Choi Jae-ik and fellow members of the Nationwide Korean Solidarity to Protect Dokdo were also in Shimane Prefecture. Having arrived the previous day, they did a brief interview with the press at their accommodation the following morning and then headed over to the Shimane prefectural office. They had intended to get there by taxi two hours before the ceremony was scheduled to take place and read aloud a statement in front of the office, but they were unable to go through with their plan because Japanese right-wing activists appeared to stop them. A struggle broke out between the two sides and lasted for about ten minutes until the police arrived and pulled it apart by having Chairman Choi and the rest of his group board police cars. That fortunately prevented the brief strain from developing into a major clash.

A group of reporters stopped by the Takeshima Archives to take a look around ahead of the ceremony. Housed in the second floor of a small two-story building, the archives' collection room and library was created to hold materials supporting the argument that "Dokdo is Japanese territory." A couple of parliamentary members were already there to offer words of encouragement. The space looked somewhat meager and scant, but seemed to embody the passion of those who helped create it. Despite the archives' alleged purpose, it didn't seem to hold much material proving that Dokdo is Japanese territory. On the other hand, it was surprising to find in its collection all kinds of publications in the Korean language arguing that Dokdo is Korean territory.

A Stiff Ceremony and Dreary Lectures

The ceremony to celebrate the twelfth Takeshima day commenced at half past one o'clock in the afternoon of February 22, 2017 in the Shimane prefectural civic center's main hall. The ceremony's full title was "The Twelfth Takeshima Day Celebration and Prefectural Rally for the Return of Takeshima and the Northern Territories." The 22nd of February marks the day Shimane Prefecture officially announced its formal incorporation of a no man's land it named Takeshima in 1905. Ever since the prefecture passed the prefectural ordinance no. 36 in 2005 to designate Takeshima Day in commemoration of the occasion, a celebration has been held every year since 2006. And since 2013, the Japanese central government has been sending a representative with a rank equivalent to assistant vice-minister to attend the annual event, which this year happened to be Mutai Shunsuke (務台俊介), a parliamentary vice-minister of the cabinet office charged with handling marine policies and territorial issues.

In the presence of around 500 attendees including the governor, officials, and residents of Shimane Prefecture as well as politicians working for the central government, the ceremony proceeded in a stiff manner from beginning to end. The first part of the ceremony was held in the order of a welcoming speech, a guest's speech, an introduction of distinguished guests, a presentation of a letter of appreciation, and an announcement of resolution. This was followed by lectures given during the second part of the ceremony that lasted for about an hour. Apart from Mutai Shunsuke, a total of nine lawmakers were present at the ceremony including Hosoda Hiroyuki (細田博之), whose home constituency is Shimane Prefecture, and Shindo Yoshitaka, who's known to be very vocal about territorial disputes.

During the ceremony, Shimane Prefecture's governor Mizoguchi Zenbei (溝口善兵衛) maintained his stance by saying that "although Takeshima has inherently been Japanese territory, Korea has been illegally occupying the island for more than 62 years" and added that he hopes "education and government activities involving the matter will be reinforced by the recent revision made to the government guidelines for primary and secondary education." The chairman of the Shimane prefectural council repeated the request toward the central government for it to take over as the official host of the Takeshima Day ceremony. Dispatching a high-ranking official to attend the ceremony seemed to be the central government's way of bypassing such a request.

Such comments were not much different from what the lawmakers there as distinguished guests had to say. Parliamentary vice-minister of the cabinet office Mutai Shunsuke said that "although Korea is an important neighbor, the territorial issue must be resolved in a cool-headed, rational manner." He added that "the Abe administration has appointed an official to take charge of matters of territorial sovereignty and is striving to raise awareness of such matters domestically and overseas." House of Representatives member Shindo Yoshitaka stressed that "the designation of Takeshima Day has made today's progress possible" and that he would "try to get financial support from the central government for the occasion." Watanabe Shu (渡部秀), another member of the house of representatives who belongs to the Democratic Party of Japan, even mentioned South Korea's political circumstances to make his argument. He said, "all of us can guess what's going on in South Korea now, but the problem is that the candidate most likely to become the country's next president has anti-Japanese tendencies" and "because South Korea is a country that puts the sentiment of its people ahead of international agreements, it has been unable to carry out what has already been agreed over the "comfort women" issue." As much as it was displeasing to hear about the South Korean government's unreliability, the remark also seemed to convey the anxiety Japan is experiencing over the political circumstances in South Korea.

Observing the ceremony's attendees still made it difficult to spot people overly cheering for arguments that Takeshima is Japanese territory or joining in on criticisms toward the South Korean government for its wrongdoings. As a matter of fact, many in the hall were wearing the emblem of Shimane Prefecture as officials involved with hosting the event, while ordinary citizens were much less visible. Moreover, many in the audience left once the first part of the ceremony was over, so its second part carried on in a complete lack of vigor.

A Celebration Only for Politicians

It was my first time attending the ceremony, but I couldn't shake away the feeling that it had already turned into an insipid routine. And I wasn't the only one to sense that despite celebrating its twelfth anniversary, Takeshima Day had failed to attract attention at its home ground and became a "league of their own" for politicians. One Japanese lady we met before heading over to the ceremony warned us to "be careful since there are weird people (who call themselves right-wing)." A taxi driver we met the day after the ceremony when we visited Tottori Prefecture told us that "quite a few Korean tourists come, so I come across them at least once or twice a week" and that "Japan should engage in more positive exchanges with Korea from now on." In the end, political slogans like "Takeshima is our (Japan's) territory" did not seem to be what people living there are actually interested in. The fact that Yonago airport, which is shared by the prefectures of Shimane and Tottori, is a mere 390 kilometers away from the South Korean city of Busan attests to how important Korea is to the prefectures' residents.

Throughout my experience as a political journalist, I have come to learn that making people feel at ease is most important in politics. Unfortunately, there are countless cases where politicians bring up issues, not because people are interested them, but to satisfy their own interests during an election or some other political situation. And Korea is no exception to such cases. Many politicians in Japan are of course striving to bring stability to people's lives, but after having had the chance to actually attend the Takeshima Day ceremony, I became convinced that the ceremony is not an extension of such efforts. Japanese journalists I talked to once I returned to Tokyo also agreed with my impression. The more one listens to what Japanese politicians insist at the Takeshima Day ceremony, the more obvious it seems that they are all too aware of the fact that Dokdo is Korean territory.

Attending the ceremony has made more clear than ever the importance of wisely untangling the relations between Korea and Japan. The words and actions of politicians are already being ignored by people in Japan. That is why Koreans should look at the bigger picture and instead pursue practical interests. While Japanese politicians remain preoccupied with putting on a false show for Takeshima Day, perhaps Koreans should be focused on instilling a heartwarming impression of Korea among the people of Japan.