Editorial comment
The column’Echo’, released every Wednesday and Friday, contains the resonant thoughts of editorial board members and editorial board desks.
An activist of the Justice Memory Solidarity speaks at a regular demand demonstration to resolve the issue of the 1480th Japanese military sexual slavery system held in front of the former Japanese embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 24th. News 1
What is the reason he jumped into the conflict between Japan and Korea? Why did he put a far-right view on the comfort women issue? John Mark Ramsey has no background in Harvard Law School professor, but his connection with Japan deepens the question. In fact, in Prof. Ramsayer’s thesis, which caused the excommunication by claiming the victim of the comfort women as a contracted prostitute, there is one thing that feels more uncomfortable than the content. It is a question that Japan’s power will make history distortion possible in the United States. Fortunately, it is not unfounded reasoning if you look at Japan’s history of using the United States for historical conflict.
If you trace the figures who secretly speak on the side of the conflict between Korea and Japan like Professor Ramsey, a deep relationship with Japan is found. Former National Security Commissioner Dennis Blair said that in connection with the 2014 comfort women conflict, South Korea also did terrible things in Vietnam. When he made an incomprehensible watering remark, he had been recruited by the Japanese right-wing foundation. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, James Zumwalt, who joined the same foundation in 2019, criticized South Korea for destroying Jisomia (the Korea-Japan Military Information Protection Agreement) with the logic of damaging the interests of the United States.
In the case of Professor Ramzier, he is a “Professor Mitsubishi,” maintained by donations by Japanese war criminal company Mitsubishi, and is a member of the Rashisher Institute, which the Japanese government has appeared on. Even if it wasn’t true that he had spent his childhood in Japan and was awarded the highest medal of the Japanese medal, it is an inadequate career to deal neutrally with the history of Korea and Japan. Previously, he published negative and unfamiliar articles on the comfort women issue in Japanese far-right media. It is an expression that the political negotiations organized by communists hinder reconciliation between Korea and Japan and address North Korea’s political goals.
Japan’s infiltration of Washington and the United States with public diplomacy is unusual. After the US has approached China with’Japan Passing’ twice in the past, the conservative regime of the Liberal Democratic Party is betting on US-Japan relations. The State Department’s’Chrysanthemum Club’ has faded a bit, but’Japan Hands’, an expert group in the United States, raises its voice whenever necessary. Former National Security Adviser Herbert McMaster is the Japanese seat of the Hudson Institute, emphasizing the US-Japan alliance.
Scenes showing the power of Japanese money are also frequently seen. “First of all, the authors would like to express their deep gratitude to the Sasakawa Peace Foundation for supporting the writing of this book.” This is a thank-you note that appears in books and research books written by many East Asian experts in the United States. It is said that few researchers in the world have not spent the money of the Sasakawa Foundation. The 159 trainees from all walks of life have grown into high-ranking personnel such as the White House, the State Department, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Finance, and are active as a group.
There is no reason to consider Japan’s long-standing lobbying infrastructure in the United States. What is worrisome is the fact that they play a decisive role in driving US public opinion in favor of Japan. In many cases, the power of Japanese money does not stop at thanks, but also leads to a representation of Japanese logic. In fact, in the North Korean nuclear issue, Japan is often presented as an alternative, emphasizing cooperation with South Korea and developing a hard-line policy toward North Korea. This means that if the relationship with Korea is estranged, the Japanese network can exert its power and a favorable trend can appear in Japan in terms of past history and sovereignty issues.
Therefore, Japanese conservative governments tried to solve the historical problem using the United States, denying the past history of Korea and Japan in order to escape from their own view of history. Prof. Ramsay’s dissertation also goes beyond his intentions, and it cannot be denied that the Japanese right-wing media have been controversial.
Taekyu Lee Editorial Writer [email protected]
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