Politic-Economic-Society-Tech

Seoul set to delay entry for Japanese cultural goods 

The government is close to deciding whether to suspend the entry of Japanese cultural products to the Korean market in retaliation to Tokyo's recent refusal to revise its textbooks, officials said yesterday.
 
An inter-governmental taskforce on the textbook dispute will convene today to discuss the proposal and other measures to take, the officials said. 

They said the government will focus on ways to draw international attention to Japan's past atrocities and its current unrepentant attitude. 

South Korea's position received a boost from the United States yesterday, with a high-level Washington official expressing concerns Tuesday about Japan's move to teach students distorted history. 

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly said he is "sympathetic" with Korea's appraisal that the Japanese government has not taken proper measures. 

He made the remark during a meeting in Washington with seven Korean lawmakers who are members of the Korea-U.S. Inter-parliamentary Council. 

Kelly expressed concerns about the most controversial textbook authored by rightist scholars. 

"It will be a major problem if many schools adopt the textbook," Rep. Park Won-hong of the opposition Grand National Party quoted Kelly as saying. 

South Korean officials said that halting cultural market openings and bilateral exchange programs will be one of their first steps. 

"Rescheduling the cultural market opening will be high on the list of Korea's countermeasures," a Foreign Ministry official said. 

Seoul began lifting a ban on Japanese cultural products in October 1998. The government planned to expand its increasingly liberal attitude this fall to include music, Television programs, adult movies, game programs and large-screen animated films. 

"With the anti-Japanese sentiment running high in the nation, it would be inappropriate to let in more Japanese cultural products," the official said. 

But he admitted that the move would be symbolic rather than practical in pressuring Japan, in that Tokyo has not officially requested further liberalization and that only a few items remain blacklisted. 

In this context, the government will put greater emphasis on seeking international support for Korea's campaign for revision of the textbooks. 

"The government will continue to raise questions about Japan's morality in international organizations, foreign media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)," the Foreign Ministry said in a report to a National Assembly committee on unification, foreign affairs and trade. 

The committee meeting was called off because rival parties differed on the opposition's demand that the unification minister apologize for not properly reporting to the Assembly on the Mt. Geumgang tour program. 

"The government will maintain a firm stance until the end," the ministry said in a statement. 

The government plans to raise the textbook issue at a United Nations conference on racial discrimination to be held in Durban, South Africa, Aug. 31-Sept. 7. 

Seoul will also criticize Japan's immorality and wrongdoing at the U.N. General Assembly in September and a U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization conference in October, the ministry official said. 

Korea has been active in countering the textbook issue on the international stage including the 57th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights held in April. 

"Korea's actions should be geared for a long-term solution, because the textbook is unlikely to be resolved in a short timeframe. We should not be emotional in dealing with it," the official said. 

By Hwang Jang-jin Staff reporter 

source: Korea Herald, July 13, 2001