Japanese Government on NHK Twitter Insulting Koreans: "No Human Rights Violation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] The Japanese government has ruled that the use of derogatory expressions against Koreans by NHK Hiroshima Broadcasting Station on Twitter cannot be considered a human rights violation.

According to Kyodo News on the 22nd, the Human Rights Protection Committee of the Central Headquarters of the Korean Residents Union in Japan (Mindan) filed a human rights relief application, claiming that "NHK incited ethnic discrimination through a Twitter account assuming the situation before and after the defeat in 1945." However, the Hiroshima Legal Affairs Bureau concluded that "it cannot be judged that there was an infringement."

Regarding this application, the Hiroshima Legal Affairs Bureau responded to Mindan on the same day, stating that "no content promoting conspicuous discrimination was confirmed," and verbally conveyed this explanation.

In response, Lee Young-jun, head of the Mindan Hiroshima branch, expressed shock, saying, "Despite public criticism of the issues with the tweets, (the refusal to acknowledge human rights violations) is shocking," and added, "We want to consider taking further measures."

NHK Hiroshima Broadcasting Station started a Twitter series titled "1945 Hiroshima Timeline" in March this year, assuming Twitter existed in 1945, presenting the situation before and after the atomic bombing through the perspective of a first-year middle school boy at the time. However, it was criticized for including content that fosters prejudice against Koreans.

For example, in a tweet posted on June 16 this year, assuming the date was "June 16, 1945," the boy's statement was quoted as saying, "Those Korean bastards casually say, 'This war will end soon,' 'Japan will lose.'" The boy added, "Unconsciously, I tried to respond angrily, full of rage, but they outnumbered us, so we couldn't handle it. Moreover, since they were Koreans, I had no proper words to reply. I clenched my molars tightly."

In a tweet assuming August 20, 1945, it stated, "They are Koreans. At Osaka Station, Korean crowds who became victors board the train!" and included content such as, "'We are the victorious people. Defeated countries get out!' With overwhelming power and force, they shout and break all the windows of the packed train."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.