[Editorial] Japanese Prime Minister Shows His True Colors

“North Korea-bashing” has been all the rage in Japan since it turned out that 17 Japanese citizens have been kidnapped by the North. When it comes to diplomatic behavior, however, North Korea and Japan look pretty similar, as both of them often repay others’ goodwill by “backstabbing” them.

When serving as chief cabinet secretary, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied the very existence of comfort women in Japanese military during World War II, calling it, “A fake story created by the media.” His remark revealed the historical perception of former Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, a Class A war criminal and Abe’s maternal grandfather. Since he became prime minister, however, neighboring countries have refrained themselves from criticizing him, as they had expectations of change. Right after taking office, the prime minister made utilitarian moves such as strengthening diplomatic efforts toward the rest of Asia. He even showed his commitment to succeeding the Kono Statement of 1993 that acknowledged the Japanese military’s forcible conscription of comfort women.

Then the prime minister suddenly went against all these expectations when he stated on March 1, the 88th anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement, “There is no evidence that [either the Japanese military or the Japanese government] forcibly mobilized comfort women.” This is not just an individual move. “Lawmakers Thinking about Japan’s Future and History Education,” a group in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which was led by Abe 10 years ago, is pushing for submitting a resolution on amending the Kono Statement. More recently, the group hired large numbers of lobbyists in Washington and even sent an aide to the prime minister to the U.S. in order to stop U.S. Congress from adopting a resolution on military comfort women.

As to Abe’s showing his true colors only a few months after taking office, some in Japan say, “In the face of the upcoming House of Councilors election in July on which his political future depends, [the prime minister] intends to secure votes from the political right.” As long as it continues the practice of breaking faith and flip-flopping for its own immediate interests, however, Japan will never become a truly great country respected by its neighbors.

Since taking office, Prime Minister Abe has chanted “liberal democracy” and “human rights” as his diplomatic slogans mainly aimed at the North. These slogans, however, will not be able to win any sympathy if Japan, without facing the truth that 200,000 women fell victim to Imperialist Japan’s inhumane crime of sex slavery, keeps on highlighting what 17 Japanese victims have gone through. If the prime minister’s own sister or daughter had suffered the same cruelty, would he have still ignored the truth and simply stated, “There is no evidence”? With a local, ego-centric perspective lacking universality, he is bound to face the mockery, “He can never let go of his insularity.”