Hatred among NE Asians

Mutual hatred between Korean, Japanese and Chinese people has risen to a worrisome level recently. This is no doubt a cause for concern, not only for those who strive for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia, but for anyone who wants this world to be free from additional troubles.

According to an opinion poll conducted by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun on 4,000 Northeast Asians in the past two months, 67 percent of Koreans said they disliked Japanese people against only 4 percent who liked them. Similarly, 34 percent of Japanese revealed their hatred of Koreans, four times higher than the 8 percent who showed favorable feelings toward the latter.

Between Japanese and Chinese people, the shares of respondents who expressed antipathy against each other stood at 51 percent and 74 percent, respectively, while only 4 percent and 11 percent gave opposing, i.e. positive, replies.

The result, especially the increased number of Korean people who dislike Japanese, is not very surprising given what Japanese leaders have done in the past couple of years.

Yet the mutual abhorrence is alarming indeed, as we thought the aggravation of relationships was mostly between the governments, and populist politicians of the two countries, not ordinary citizens. The same can be said of the Japanese-Chinese relationship, too. Responsible political leaders, and all people with sound sense, should not let the regional aversion continue for too long, for the three countries, their people and the rest of the world.

It would of course be best if nationalistic Japanese leaders, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, changed their attitudes and behavior.

However, such expectations have long become wishful thinking in Korea and China. It is difficult for Korea to hold its hand out to Japan, especially its unrepentant leadership, not least because tolerance on the part of the weaker side could appear as cowardice. Yet nothing would be more foolish for Seoul to do than to antagonize the whole of Japan, including its intellectuals and the two-thirds of Japanese citizens who oppose Premier Abe’s attempts to revise the constitution and exercise the right of collective self-defense.

Equally important is to engage Japan not with emotions but with cool, rational dialogue.

It was not wise of President Park Geun-hye in this regard to embarrass her Japanese counterpart, who addressed her in The Hague last month. Nor is it a thoughtful thing in the long-term for Seoul to become too close to Beijing, considering Korea’s geopolitical fate, which forces it to find a perfect balance between its two giant neighbors. For instance, Park will hardly be able to put her unification process into action without cooperation from Japan as well as from China.

Instead of taking sides with Beijing or Tokyo in turn, Seoul should mediate between the two global powers with the cooperation of its most important ally, the United States. It should put long-term prosperity ahead of short-term pride. The korea times