＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<2024/6/14 postscript>“Concealing the facts about the radar irradiation incident” was ordered by then President Moon Jae-in.
At a June 1 defense ministerial meeting, Japan and South Korea agreed to prevent a recurrence of the radar irradiation incident involving a South Korean navy aircraft of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and are about to resume defense exchanges.
However, the shelving of the clarification of the facts left the conservative camp, including the Liberal Democratic Party, strongly dissatisfied. This is because the Japanese side, which was irradiated with fire control radar, has a variety of data to prove the facts, and South Korea’s claim of total denial is absurd.
It has now come to light that some South Korean military personnel had unofficially explained to the Japanese side the sequence of events, including that the cover-up of the irradiation was “ordered by then President Moon Jae-in.
There is news that South Korea, which has taken the liberty of referring to its illegally occupied “Takeshima” as “Dokdo ,” is making another unreasonable demand.
This time, South Korea has appealed to the “International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)” to have the “East Sea (Donghae)” claimed by South Korea marked together withthe “Sea of Japan” , and the IHO has requested Japan to hold consultations with South Korea.
It seems somewhat similar to South Korea’s “lie-filled rebuttal and reprisal” over the “firearms radar irradiation incident.
１．What is the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)?
The International Hydrographic Organization is an international organization established under the International Hydrographic Organization Convention adopted in 1967 to make navigation easier and safer by improving nautical charts.
As can be seen from this “purpose,” there is no room for arbitrary “political assertions.
Korea, too, had officially agreed to the traditional designation “Sea of Japan” as of 1986.
２．What is the “Sea of Japan Name Issue”?
However, at the 15th IHO General Assembly in 1997, South Korea began demanding that the name Sea of Japan be changed to “East Sea (Donghae)” as used by South Korea, claiming that the name was a remnant of Japanese imperialism.
In response, the Japanese delegation immediately conveyed the legitimacy of the Sea of Japan and opposed the Korean claim, citing, among other reasons, that the East Sea was a name with no theoretical or historical basis.
South Korea, however, “refused to listen,” and at the 16th IHO General Assembly in April 2002, this time demanded that “East Sea” be listed together with “Sea of Japan. In August of the same year, the IHO Executive Committee decided that the name “Sea of Japan” was “highly political and cannot be reconciled between Japan and Korea.
At the 19th IHO General Assembly in April 2017, it was decided that “the countries concerned will informally discuss the pros and cons of revising the guideline ‘Boundaries of Oceans and Seas,’ which had remained unchanged for more than 60 years, and will be reported at the next General Assembly in 2020.
Although the IHO has given in to South Korea’s persistent demands, it is clear that South Korea is at fault for deviating from the IHO’s original purpose and unilaterally making this a political issue.
However, the Japanese government, at the request of the IHO, has begun to consider the possibility of holding informal consultations with the countries concerned, including South Korea, which are in conflict over the Sea of Japan designation issue. The Japanese government plans to argue that “there is neither need nor basis for changing the designation of the Sea of Japan” at the talks, which I think is natural.
３．problem
The recent “firearms radar irradiation incident,” the “wartime laborer ruling” and the “decision to dissolve the comfort women support foundation” are just a few examples of the escalation of anti-Japanese behavior in South Korea that shows no signs of stopping. The accusation by the Korea Fair Trade Commission against Nissan for alleged “misrepresentation of fuel consumption” to prosecutors is also indicative of a political agenda.
Does South Korean President Moon Jae-in intend to abandon the “Japan-U.S.-South Korea cooperative framework” against Russia, China, and North Korea and surrender to the North Korean military? At least President Moon Jae-in appears to be thinking that way. The President’s parents are refugees (immigrants) from North Korea, but does he feel an affinity for North Korea?
So what is the “future vision after the unification of North and South Korea”? It is none of our business, but we believe that the majority of Koreans are opposed to a communist state under the Kim dynasty. However, if we unify North and South Korea as a “democratic state,” how will we deal with the dictator Kim Jong-un? Is he going to demand another huge “compensation claim” from Japan or a huge “denuclearization cooperation fund”?
Here, Japan should take a firm stand and never make concessions; the current attitude of the South Korean government, which tramples with impunity on the Japan-South Korea Claims Agreement signed in 1965 and the Japan-South Korea Agreement on the Comfort Women Issue in 2015, is unacceptable.
As a side note, since the Muromachi period (1336-1573), Joseon sent a diplomatic mission called “Chosun Tsushinshi” to Japan.
The “Chosun Envoys” dispatched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590 and 1596 are closely related to the outbreak of the Bunroku no Eki (1592-1593) and Keicho no Eki (1597-1598).
The program was resumed in the Edo period (1603-1867), but Arai Hakuseki had it simplified on the grounds that the reception of the Korean envoys was a drain on the shogunate’s finances.
However, this led to a conflict with Amenomori Housyu, a Confucian scholar from the Tsushima Clan, which was closest to Joseon. The Tsushima Clan was the “front line” for relations with Joseon and probably wanted to avoid a worsening of relations with Joseon.
I remember reading in Shuhei Fujisawa’s novel “Ichijin” an anecdote about how when Arai Hakuseki was a tutor to the sixth shogun, Tokugawa Ienobu, and was at the center of the government together with Mabe Akifusa, he had a heated argument with a Korean envoy over the exchange of diplomatic letters.
The Japanese side was vehemently protested by Joseon, saying that it was disrespectful to include the name of the king of Joseon seven generations earlier in the letter of reply from Japan to Joseon, and that it should be deleted.
Hakuseki objected to this, saying that it was not right. Even if there was, the character for Iemitsu was also used in the national letter of the king of Joseon. Can you call it a courtesy without considering your own behavior?” He pressed, “Can you call it a courtesy without reflecting on your own behavior?
We find the above description in Hakuseki’s autobiographical essay, “Oritakushiba no Ki.
Does it mean that Joseon was a country that made various unreasonable demands from the past?