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Anti-Korean sentiment in Japan refers to opposition, hostility, hatred, distrust, fear, and general dislike ofKorean people or culture in Japan.Relations between Japan and Korea date back nearly two millennia, and are mostly defined through cultural exchanges and diplomatic trade. However, major events such as wars and political disputes play a key factor in harboring negative sentiment.[1] Much of the currentanti-Korean sentiment stems fromconservative politicians andfar-right groups.
Relations between ancient Japan and Korea date back to at least the 4th century, according to historical records of ancient China, Japan, and Korea. According to theBook of Sui,Silla andBaekje greatly valued relations with the Kofun-periodWa and the Korean kingdoms made diplomatic efforts to maintain their good standing with the Japanese.[2] TheSamguk sagi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) reported that Baekje and Silla sent their princes ashostages to the Yamato court in exchange for military support to continue their military campaigns; KingAsin of Baekje sent his son (Jeonji) in 397,[3] and KingSilseong of Silla sent his sonMisaheun in 402.[4]Hogong, from Japan, helped to found Silla.[5] According to theNihon Shoki, Silla was invaded by an army from Wa (Japan) in the third century.[6] In Korea, inscriptions on theGwanggaeto Stele state that the king of Goguryeo assisted Silla when it was invaded by the Wa, and punished Baekje for allying with the Wa. The stela also records Wa excursions in the early 5th century.[7]
During theMongol conquests of the 13th and 14th centuries, theGoryeo dynasty of Korea became avassal state. Under Mongolian influence, Korean envoys were sent to Japan to declare submission to the Mongols, but were rejected.[8][9] In response, the emperor Kublai Khan launchedtwo separate invasions in 1274 and 1281. Although both attempts to conquer Japan failed, anti-Korean sentiment had risen due to the major involvement of Korean troops participating in the invasion.[citation needed]
During theJoseon period,Wokou pirate raids on Korean soil were frequent, which would eventually form the basis of hatred between the two sides. In 1592, Japanesesamurai armies invaded Korea on the orders ofToyotomi Hideyoshi. TheImjin Wars continued until 1598, when the Japanese left, and took with them a number of Korean craftsmen.[citation needed]
During theMeiji Restoration of the late 19th century, Japan underwentWesternization and took opportunities to exploitQing China, which was unable to defend itself from Western forces. Because Korea was atributary state of China at the time, Japan pressed Korea into theTreaty of Gangwha, forcing Korea to provideextraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens in the country, open three ports—Busan,Incheon, andWonsan—to Japanese and other foreign trade, and establish its independence from China in foreign relations. For the next couple of decades, theEmpire of Japan would forcefully remove any foreign influence on Korea and finallyannexed the country in 1910.[10] Japan maintained control of Korea until the end ofWorld War II in 1945.
During the1923 Great Kantō earthquake, widespread damage occurred in a region with a significant Korean population, and much of the local Japanese overreacted to rumors which spread after the earthquake.[11] Within the aftermath of the event, there was a common perception amongst some groups of Japanese that ethnic Koreans werepoisoning wells, eventually setting off a set of killings against Koreans, where Japanese would use theshibboleth ofba bi bu be bo (ばびぶべぼ) to distinguish ethnic Koreans from Japanese, as it was assumed that Koreans would be unable to pronounce the line correctly, and instead pronounce them as[pa,pi,pu,pe,po], since pronouncing voiced consonants was difficult for them.[12][13] All people who failed the test were killed,[citation needed] which caused manyethnic Chinese, also unable to correctly pronounce the shibboleth, to be indiscriminately killed in large numbers. Other shibboleths used were "jū-go-en, go-jū-ssen" (15円 50銭; 15yen, 50sen)[14] and "gagigugego" (がぎぐげご), where Japanese people pronounce initialg as[ɡ] and medialg as[ŋ] (such a distinction is dying out in recent years), whereas Koreans pronounce the two sounds as[k] and[ɡ] respectively.[citation needed]
After the end of World War II, Japanese politicians accused the Korean (as well as Taiwanese) minority in Japan of "insolence," bullying Japanese, running the black market, counterfeiting currency, spreading disease, and other criminal activities. These politicians painted the minorities as a "menace" and a "source of social disorder." The accusations led to numerous violent mob actions against Koreans in Japan.[15]
In April 2014, several anti-Korean stickers were found posted at 13 locations along theShikoku Pilgrimage route; the stickers were denounced by a spokesman from the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage Association.[16]
In 2021, a Japanese man set fire to an empty house in a Korean village inUtoro district,Uji. The fire spread to other properties and damaged them. He attributed his actions to his hatred of the Korean people, which was in part sparked by online rhetoric. He was sentenced to four years in prison.[17][18]
There is also much concern in Japan regarding North Korea and its nuclear and long-range missilecapabilities, as a result of missile tests in1993,1998 and2006 and anunderground nuclear test in 2006. There are also controversies regardingNorth Korean abductions of Japanese, where Japanese citizens were abducted by North Korean agents during the 1970s and 1980s.[19]
Chongryon, the North Korea-affiliated organization for ethnic Koreans in Japan, has continually drawn controversy from the Japanese public.[20]
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During the2002 FIFA World Cup, Japanese and Korean supporters clashed with one another. Both sides were also known to post racist messages against each other on online bulletin boards. There were alsodisputes regarding how the event was to be hosted, as a result of the rivalry between the two nations.
TheKorean Wave, or the exportation of South Korean pop culture, has created some negative feelings among pockets of Japanese society. Many Japanese citizens with conservative views and someright-wingnationalist groups have organized anti-Korean Wave demonstrations via2channel. On 9 August 2011, more than 2,000 protesters demonstrated in front ofFuji TV's headquarters inOdaiba,Tokyo, against the broadcasting ofKorean dramas.[21] Earlier, in July 2011, Japanese former actorSousuke Takaoka was fired from his agency,Stardust Promotion, for tweeting criticisms against the influx of Korean dramas.[22] The general perception of Koreans on 2channel is negative, with users depicting them as violent, unethical, and irrational people who are a 'threat' to Japan.[23] Users often reference stereotypes of Koreans, such as theuse of dogs in Korean cuisine.[24]
TheUnited States Institute of Peace analyzed that the dispute between Japan and South Korea results from anti-Koreanxenophobia. According to their analysis, Japan's repeated historical negativism, territorial disputes, and failure of diplomatic agreements are also manifestations of anti-Korean xenophobia. Many Japanese people perceive Koreans to be inferior and untrustworthy.[25]
In Japanese bookstores, Kenkan (嫌韓, "Hatred for [South] Koreans") is recognized as a book genre. On the other hand, while there are no Hyomil (혐일;嫌日;lit. Hatred for Japanese) books in South Korean bookstores, there is a segment for books specifically covering Korea under colonial rule.[26] Kenkan books grew in numbers during 2012, and slowly disappeared after a law countering hate speech was enacted in 2016.[27]
South Korean media has accused Japanese people of continuing to support historical revisionism against Korean victims, apologizing for Chinese victims in theWorld War II issue ofJapanese war crimes.[28][29]
Several South Korean media have criticized that, except for some left-wing socialist political parties (mainlySocial Democratic Party andJapanese Communist Party), major Japanese politicians and political parties often have historical revisionist perceptions of thecomfort women issue.Fumio Kishida called on the German government to remove theStatue of Peace in Berlin, which has caused considerable controversy in South Korea.[30][31] TheConstitutional Democratic Party of Japan, as well as theLiberal Democratic Party, have also called on the South Korean government to remove the Statue of Peace,[32] with some even suggesting that there was no evidence to indicate that Japanese authorities coerced Korean women into sexual slavery.[33] In 2015, the issue was declared settled by the JapaneseMinistry of Foreign Affairs after talks between the ministers of foreign affairs on both sides. However, this was overturned in 2017, whenMoon Jae-in claimed that the agreement does not settle the issue.[34]
On June 26, 1982, the textbook screening process in Japan came under scrutiny when the media of Japan and its neighboring countries gave extensive coverage to changes required by theMinister of Education. Experts from the ministry sought to soften textbook references to Japanese aggression before and during World War II. The Japanese invasion of China in 1937, for example, was modified to "advance". Passages describing the fall of Nanking justified the Japanese atrocities by describing the acts as a result of Chinese provocations. Pressure from China successfully led the Ministry of Education to adopt a new authorization criterion - the "Neighboring Country Clause" (近隣諸国条項) - stating: "textbooks ought to show understanding and seek international harmony in their treatment of modern and contemporary historical events involving neighboring Asian countries."[35]
In 2006, Japanese textbooks stated that theLiancourt Rocks is Japanese territory. This island isdisputed territory claimed by both Japan and South Korea. The head of theSouth Korean Ministry of Education,Kim Shin-il, sent a letter of protest toBunmei Ibuki, the Minister of Education, on May 9, 2007.[36] In a speech marking the 88th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, South Korean PresidentRoh Moo-hyun called for Japan to correct its school textbooks on controversial topics ranging from "inhumane rape ofcomfort women" to "the Korean ownership of theLiancourt Rocks".[37] The Liberal Democratic Party, notably the Shinzo Abe administration, has been criticized for historical revisionism tendencies.[38] The Japanese Society for Historical Studies has criticized the LDP's intervention against textbook writers, and its ban on several words and phrases such as "comfort women".[39][40]
Almost all majorSouth Korean media outlets point out that theLiberal Democratic Party and its politicians expressanti-Korean sentiment, and that the party's main support base is "Hatred for [South] Koreans".[41][42][43]
Some right-wing groups in Japan today have targeted ethnic Koreans living within Japan. One such group, known asZaitokukai, is organized by members on the internet and has led street demonstrations against Korean schools.[44]
On March 27, 2010, on the centennial ofJapan–Korean annexation,Yukio Edano, then Japanese Minister of State for Government Revitalization, stated that "The invasion and colonization and China and Korea were historically inevitable. . . since China and Korea could not modernize themselves." Yukio Edano is known as a liberal politician in Japan.[45]
In the South Korean media, most Japanese people and almost all major Japanese media criticize the view of South Korean politics for being biased and for portraying or loathing South Korean liberals in a negative way.[46][47][a] Korean media claims that, theAsahi Shimbun, known in Japan as a Japanese liberal media outlet, reports on the South Korean liberal Moon Jae-in government using biased and insulting expressions.[48][49]
According toMichael J. Green in January 2022, presidential candidates in the2022 South Korean presidential election are willing to improve relations with Japan, but Japanese political leaders have analyzed that they are not.[50]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Anti-Korean racism is at the heart of historic and unresolved tensions between Japan and South Korea. It will be near impossible to resolve disputes like the comfort women issue without addressing this racism. This is because the difficulty in reaching a consensus on the Japanese side often derives from the underlying tendency among many Japanese to view Koreans as "inferior" and "untrustworthy." U.S. actors, including officials, businesses and academics, should understand the consequences of the important role they have played in perpetuating such prejudice and help right this wrong. ... We tend to think of Korean-Japanese tensions in terms of topic areas, such as Japan's recurring historical denialism, the territorial dispute and the failure of diplomatic arrangements. But these tensions are largely manifestations of racism, not the cause of it, and they will persist as long as racism itself remains unaddressed.
제1야당인 입헌민주당의 이즈미 겐타 대표는 이날 윤 대통령과 만나 한·일 갈등 현안인 '레이더-초계기' 문제와 소녀상 건립 문제를 언급했다고 밝혔다. 입헌민주당은 그동안 소녀상 철거를 요구해왔다.
기시다 총리로선 확실한 지지기반인 '반한·혐한' 세력의 반대를 무릅쓰고, 한-일 관계 개선을 위한 정상회담에 나설 국내 정치적 동기가 약하다는 뜻이다.
