Anti-Korean Japanese company DHC, only mimics 'apology' after losing clients... reluctant to issue public apology

Submitting an Apology Letter to Contracted Local Governments with a
'Confidentiality' Request
Victims Ignored... No Response to Public Apology Demands

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Japanese cosmetics company DHC, known for its anti-Korean stance, reportedly submitted an apology letter regarding anti-Korean posts by Chairman Yoshida Yoshiaki to local governments with which it has contractual relationships, requesting confidentiality.

On the 22nd, Mainichi Shimbun reported that through an information disclosure request, it obtained documents submitted by DHC to four local governments including Moriya City in Ibaraki Prefecture. The documents include records of a DHC representative visiting the city hall to explain the situation to Mayor Matsumaru Nobuhisa.

The representative submitted an apology letter stating, "We acknowledge the mistake in the sentence containing inappropriate content regarding human rights and have withdrawn the statement," and "We pledge not to repeat the same act."

The apology letter also included the expression, "The chairman is reflecting on the fact that the controversy has become bigger than expected."

Negotiation records with DHC prepared by Moriya City mention DHC's request, "Please do not disclose the documents."

DHC showed a passive attitude toward official apologies and explanations.

DHC explained to Moriya City that it "will not post an explanation about the circumstances of deleting the sentence on the homepage," and "will respond to all inquiries with 'No comment.'"

Moriya City pointed out the insufficiency, saying, "We cannot fulfill our responsibility to explain to citizens," and requested that the company stamp the documents and include specific measures to prevent recurrence to clarify the company's explanation. However, DHC refused, saying, "We want to avoid the documents causing new criticism and problems."

Moriya City is planning to decide on a policy in August as Korean residents are demanding the early termination of agreements with DHC.

Earlier, Chairman Yoshida of DHC had posted several anti-Korean posts on the DHC homepage since November last year.

These included posts criticizing competitor Suntory for mainly employing 'Korea-affiliated' Japanese in advertisements and posts by NHK, which investigated Chairman Yoshida's discriminatory acts, accusing NHK of being the culprit behind the 'Koreanization' of Japan.

As the controversy over Chairman Yoshida's anti-Korean incitement grew, DHC recently quietly deleted the posts without apology.

There are criticisms within Japan regarding DHC's attitude of apologizing confidentially only to business partners without publicly apologizing to the Zainichi Korean and Korean residents in Japan, who are victims of Chairman Yoshida's hate speech (public discrimination and hateful remarks against specific groups).

Moon Gong-hwi, Secretary General of the Multicultural Coexistence Human Rights Education Center, a non-profit organization (NPO) and a Zainichi Korean, told Mainichi, "A company with significant social influence bears heavy responsibility for hate speech," and demanded, "The chairman himself should apologize publicly."

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