‘Akihito should make apologies first’

Members of the Group that Promotes Friendship by Overcoming the History between Korea and Japan bow in apology in Seoul, Tuesday, for atrocities committed by the Japanese military against Korean women conscripted to provide sex services during World War II. (Photo : The Korea Times/Sohn Yong-seok)

President Lee Myung-bak indirectly demanded Tuesday that Japan offer sincere apology for its 36-year-long brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and war crimes committed during World War II.

Lee made the remarks amid a worsening Seoul-Tokyo diplomatic row after his surprise visit to Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo last Friday.

“If (Japanese King Akihito) wants to pay a visit to Seoul, I believe he will be welcomed only when he issues a sincere apology to independence fighters who underwent suffering under Japanese colonial rule,” Lee said.

“I believe the Japanese king won’t need to visit here if he is going to offer apology with such diplomatic rhetoric as condolences.”

Lee made the remarks during a meeting with teachers at a workshop to fight school bullying held at the Korea National University of Education in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province. Lee stressed offenders could easily forget their misdeeds.

“But this is not the case for the victims,” he said. “Victims never forget their sufferings. They can forgive offenders, though. I told the Japanese government that we can forgive Japan despite its misdeeds during the colonial period and World War II, but will never forget them.”

Japan has ignored South Korea’s call to compensate the wartime sex slaves and forced laborers.

Since he visited Dokdo last Friday, Lee has maintained a hardline stance on Japan. He said he had planned the Dokdo trip for three years, dismissing some media reports that the unprecedented visit was an impromptu idea to turn the tide of the bad domestic political situation.

Lee said he was originally going to stay the night there but had to return to Seoul because of bad weather.

Although the President has toughened his stance on Japan, officials here said there was no link between Lee’s remarks and Seoul’s policy toward Tokyo.

Lee is the first South Korean leader who set foot on the islets, which Japan claims as its own. <The Korea Times/Kang Hyun-kyung>

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