Hong Jun-pyo "Regret Yoon's Criticism of Japan Diplomacy... Should Explain with Direct Approach"

Published 26 Apr.2023 10:47(KST)

Mayor Hong Joon-pyo of Daegu criticized the ruling party's response, expressing "deep regret" over President Yoon Suk-yeol's controversial remark in an interview with foreign media that "we cannot simply force Japan to kneel unconditionally over events that happened 100 years ago."

On the 26th, Mayor Hong stated through his social media (SNS), "Seeing the recent intense criticism of President Yoon's diplomatic stance toward Japan, I cannot help but feel regret. The ruling party's logic in defending this is also extremely weak," he said.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He added, "After World War II, two-thirds of the countries in the world gained independence from imperialist colonial powers. The sad history of colonial rule was the darkest corner of world history in the early 20th century. Even the United States, during the Mexican-American War, took Texas, bought Los Angeles, and made the Philippines a colony?this was an era dominated by the logic of power and barbarism."

He interpreted President Yoon's reference to "past history" as a product of the colonial era that must be explained to the public. He defended the president's remarks by saying, "At a time when the socialist alliance of North Korea, China, and Russia is strengthening, the US-China technological hegemony war is intensifying, and the North Korean nuclear crisis is at its peak and urgent, wasn't the unavoidable choice to strengthen the US-Japan-South Korea liberal alliance necessary for our survival? Isn't our desperate choice to ask the past and move toward the future?"

He further questioned, "Is the solution to Korea-Japan relations an eternal task in Korean political history? As South Korea has risen to a position of equal national power with Japan, how should we position ourselves moving forward? Wouldn't it be better to explain this straightforwardly to the public and seek their understanding?"