＜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:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
I feel that President Moon Jae-in’s speech at the March 1, 2019, ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of the March 1 Movement was an even clearer demonstration of his anti-Japanese position.
Many media outlets reported that they appreciated the fact that criticism of Japan was restrained, partly due to the fact that the second U.S.-North Korea summit ended in a breakdown, but since there was no apology for the confusion and inaction that they brought on themselves regarding the comfort women issue, which has been resolved, or the former labor arbitrage judgment, and no concrete solution has been presented, I cannot evaluate it at all.
１．What is the “3.1 Movement”?
The “March First Movement” was an independence movement that took place in Korea under Japanese rule in 1919.
The background of the movement was the worldwide rise of nationalism after World War I. The direct trigger was the funeral of Kojong, the first emperor of the Korean Empire.
As a result of this movement, Japanese rule of Korea changed its policy from military rule to civilian rule.
March 1 is now a major holiday in Korea.
Until recently, I did not know that there was this “March 1 Movement Commemoration Ceremony,” nor did I know the content of the South Korean President’s speech at that time. I am not even sure if it was on TV news or in newspaper articles.
President Moon Jae-in’s speech at the centennial celebration of the March 1 Movement in 2019 was as follows.
The key is to rebuild history, and the issue is to clear up the residue of pro-Japan sentiment (having cooperated with Japanese rule). The task is to reflect on the pro-Japan movement and to properly establish the value that the independence movement should be treated with courtesy.
On the other hand, he also appeals to the following.
We are not trying to create a cause for conflict in diplomacy with our neighbors. Both the settlement of pro-Japan differences and diplomacy must be future-oriented. We are not now trying to rehash the wounds of the past and divide the country.
However, I feel that this appeal is rather inciting “anti-Japanese sentiment” among the Korean public.
It does not directly touch on the comfort women issue or the former wartime laborers’ judgment, but it does not offer any concrete measures to resolve the pending issues.
２．What is the “Pro-Japanese Property Confiscation Law”?
This “Law on Confiscation of Pro-Japanese Property” (a special law on the state ownership of the property of pro-Japanese anti-national actors) was promulgated in 2005.
This is part of the “past liquidation policy” promoted by the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the purpose of which is stated in Article 1 as “to embody justice and to establish national spirit by making the property accumulated by the anti-national actors who cooperated with the Japanese imperialist colonial rule and oppressed our people, at that time, the property of the state.。
This law is extremely politicized and arbitrary, and in the first place, it violates the general principle of law of “non-retroactivity of law. Article 13 of the Korean Constitution also clearly states the “principle of prohibition of retroactive legislation.
Incidentally, the Japanese Constitution also has a provision to the same effect in Article 39 (prohibition of ex post facto laws and retroactive punishment).
It is difficult to understand how President Roh Moo-hyun, who is also a lawyer, could have approved (or rather promoted) such a special law. He committed suicide after leaving office and after being interviewed on allegations of illicit funds.
In 2006, the “Committee for Investigation of the Property of Pro-Japanese Anti-National Actors,” an investigative body directly under President Roh Moo-hyun, was established. The committee is intended to thoroughly search for the descendants of pro-Japanese groups and confiscate their property.
In 2008, an outrageous court ruled that land acquired by a third party from a pro-Japanese descendant should also belong to the state.
The recent the former wartime laborers’ judgment is also a very unreasonable decision, but since this decision is against the Korean people, I feel a kind of obsession that “pro-Japanese groups will be thoroughly exterminated, even if they are descendants. I can hardly believe that this is a “judicial decision.
When he was president, it was President Moon Jae-in who served as his aide (head of the presidential secretariat).
<Addition on 9/15/2019>
On the August 13 Morning Show, a book criticizing the anti-Japanese attitude called “Anti-Japanese Speciesism” was introduced as the number one bestseller in South Korea. The book is authored by six authors, including Seoul National University professor emeritus Yi Yeong Kaul.
The book is “The root of all crises in Korea is anti-Japaneseism, and the hidden truth, the disputed Dokdo Island, and the comfort women issue are also the content that refutes Korea’s national Hidouism head-on with a different vision than ever before”.
The runaway anti-Japanese stance of the Moon Jae-in administration appears to be causing some concern in South Korea.
The so-called “onion man,” Yeo Guo, who recently assumed the post of Minister of Justice, has harshly criticized the book, saying that it is “a heck of a book.
To his criticism, Lee Rong Kaul responded, “It is nothing but a propaganda campaign by despicable people who do not even deserve to be mentioned.