Japanese Media Cautiously Reports on Japanese Official's 'President Moon Defamation Remarks'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Japanese Embassy Charg? d'Affaires Soma Hirohisa's disparaging comparison of President Moon Jae-in's efforts to improve Korea-Japan relations to 'self-defense acts' has emerged as a diplomatic issue in South Korea, according to major Japanese newspapers.

On the 18th, Asahi Shimbun published an article stating that the Embassy of Japan in Korea met with Korean reporters and revealed that Ambassador Aiboshi Koichi gave Soma a stern warning.

Earlier, Ambassador Aiboshi issued a statement on the 17th saying, "Although Charg? d'Affaires Soma's remarks were made during a private conversation, they were extremely inappropriate as a diplomat and very regrettable," and added, "I immediately confirmed with Soma that it is true he used the expression reported during the conversation."

He continued, "This was by no means a remark directed at President Moon," and added, "I heard that Soma told the reporter present that the remark was inappropriate and retracted it."

On the same day, Mainichi Shimbun also reported that Ambassador Aiboshi gave Soma a stern warning regarding President Moon, specifying that the controversial expression was 'masturbation.' Nihon Keizai Shimbun reprinted a Kyodo News article briefly covering the related content but did not explicitly mention the problematic expression.

Sankei Shimbun, classified as right-wing in Japan, emphasized the Embassy of Japan in Korea's explanation that Soma's reported remarks were not aimed at President Moon personally.

Kyodo News analyzed that as Japan was reluctant to hold a Korea-Japan summit in connection with the Tokyo Olympics, the Korean government seems to be using Soma's remarks to gain diplomatic initiative.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has not issued an official statement regarding this controversy.

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