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| A member of a civic group holds burning placards during a rally against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul Friday protesting Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japan’s war dead the day before. / AP-Yonhap |
By Chung Min-uck
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s controversial visit to the Yasukuni Shrine has met with a stronger-than-expected backlash.
Not only has Abe’s visit been blasted by neighboring Korea and China, which suffered imperialism under pre-World War II Japan, but criticism has also come from Tokyo’s main ally the United States and other global players, including the European Union.
Abe, a hawkish right-winger, made a visit to the shrine on Thursday and drew unprecedented reaction from the U.S. which said it was “disappointed.” Abe was the first Japanese premier in seven years to pay his respects to the shrine.
Government sources said Sunday Seoul has called off a series of proposed defense meetings and military exchange programs with Japan, reflecting its discontent over the prime minister’s war shrine visit.
Deputy defense ministers of the two Asian neighbors last month held a meeting on the sidelines of the Seoul defense forum and agreed to work together to facilitate exchanges between working-level officials by signing a memorandum of understanding.
The E.U. and the United Nations, in a rare move, also condemned Abe’s move, saying it undermined security in Northeast Asia.
E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement the organization “took note” of the visit and urged the countries in the region to build positive and constructive ties with one another that will bolster confidence, defuse tensions and assure long-term stability.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon also said that he was aware of Japanese prime minister’s visit and, “It is highly regrettable that tensions from the past are still plaguing the region.”
According to a survey released by the Japanese Asahi Shinbun on Sunday, almost 30 percent of the Japanese people believe their country’s engagements during World War II (1939-45) were not acts of aggression, whereas about 50 percent said they were.
Despite all the criticism from around the world, only a handful of Japanese politicians openly criticized Abe’s visit to the notorious shrine, with some expressing strong opposition.
Japan watchers say Abe is betting on Washington to support his rightist drive of denying Japan’s imperial past and expanding its military role.
“Just releasing a statement saying they are ‘disappointed’ of Abe’s move will not do,” said a Korean government official asking not to be named, adding that the condemnation was not as harsh as it should have been.
During Abe’s visit, the governor of Okinawa gave the go-ahead for land reclamation for the current U.S. military base in Okinawa, something that will help facilitate part of the U.S. plan to redeploy troops in and around Asia.
In response, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo released a statement saying, “The U.S. looks forward to working with the government of Japan toward base consolidation.”
