Sense and sensitivity

Korean-American physician Jim Yong Kim was named as head of the World Bank Group in April. / Korea Times file

Does it matter that Kim called Japanese crown prince royal instead of imperial?

TOKYO – World Bank President Jim Yong Kim arrived in Tokyo to share ideas with policymakers on how to lift the global economy out of the gutter.

However, the Korean-American physician, who took the helm of the bank in April, generated as much noise in Korea with the way he chose to address the Japanese crown prince as with his views on global finance.

Kim addressed Naruhito, son of Japanese Emperor Akhito, as “your royal highness’’ in his keynote speech during the opening ceremony of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings.

By comparison, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde acknowledged him as “your imperial highness,’’ the preference of the Japanese government, which maintains the status of its monarch as emperor.

This brought back memories of the controversy touched off by Korean President Lee Myung-bak in August when he spoke of Akihito as a “king’’ in an expression of displeasure surrounding the bitter row between Korea and Japan over the islets of Dokdo.

World Bank officials in Tokyo downplayed Kim’s selection of words. However, at least one high-ranking executive at a Korean bank felt Kim was trying to make a statement.

“I was shocked to hear Kim calling the Japanese crown prince royal highness, unlike Lagarde who called him imperial highness. Of course the war is now over, and Japan can no longer call itself an empire, so I guess Kim can justify his decision to address Naruhito as royal. Most constitutional monarchies in the modern world call their monarch king,’’ said the banker.

The executive is proud a Korean-American is leading one of the most influential finance organizations in the world. Kim said in his speech that Korea reminds people that every economy has the potential as the war-torn country has achieved remarkable economic development over the last few decades.

However, there is a time and place for making political statements and it’s debatable whether Kim chose wisely. The IMF-World Bank meetings have already been marred by political disputes, with China refusing to send their top economic policymakers amid conflict with Japan over a chain of islands at the East China Sea.

An official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that the official title of the Japanese crown prince is “his imperial majesty the crown prince,” and said he hardly heard someone address him as “royal.”

“Japanese royal family members are usually described as imperial. I seldom hear them referred to as royal,” said the official.

Many Koreans still feel extremely bitter toward Japan following its colonization of the country from 1910 to 1945. Colonization issues are ongoing between the neighboring countries as Korea’s wartime sex slaves are still seeking compensation from the Japanese government for their physical and mental damages, which Japan refuses to provide. <The Korea Times/Kim Jae-won>

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