Revised Japanese textbooks downplay wartime forced labor, catching Korea off guard

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ahead of their bilateral meeting in Tokyo, Japan, March 16. AP-Yonhap

Seoul lodges strong protest over Tokyo's distortion of history

By Lee Hyo-jin

The Japanese government on Tuesday approved school textbooks whitewashing the forced mobilization of Koreans to labor in factories during World War II. The latest move appears to be a stab in the back for the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, which has been hailing the restoration of bilateral ties with Tokyo.

In response, the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged protests over Japan's latest attempt to whitewash its history, which came less than two weeks after a breakthrough summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said it screened history textbooks that will be used to teach third to sixth-grade students.

In some of the textbooks, publishers deleted the expression "forced mobilization" which was previously used to describe Koreans who were mobilized to work in Japanese factories during Japan's 1910-45 occupation of Korea.

"To address a shortage of manpower amid the prolonged war, Joseon (Korean) people and Chinese were forcibly mobilized for mine works," the earlier textbooks read. But in the revised versions, the term "forcibly mobilized" was replaced by "participated," distorting the coercive nature of the mobilization.

The textbooks also included sovereignty claims to Dokdo. Korea has long maintained effective control over the easternmost islets and stationed security personnel there. But Japan has been repeatedly claiming Dokdo as its territory.

Although it is not the first time the Japanese education ministry has approved textbooks glossing over historical facts based on its own perspective, diplomatic observers noted that the announcement came less than two weeks after a milestone summit between Yoon and Kishida.

In the March 16 meeting, the two leaders vowed to improve long strained ties, moving on from historical animosities toward forward-looking bilateral relations.

Japanese textbooks describe Dokdo as Japan's territory in this March 30, 2021 photo. Korea Times file

Yang Ki-ho, a professor of Japanese studies at Sungkonghoe University, said Japan's whitewashing of atrocities in textbooks is not a big surprise, considering that the education ministry holds one of the most conservative views among its government bodies.

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"Nevertheless, it is notable that Japan has shown that its historical perception remains unchanged despite Seoul's big concessions over forced labor issues. Our government's resolution to compensate (forced labor) victims with its own money was a gesture demanding Tokyo to do its part, such as by improving education on its wartime atrocities," he told The Korea Times.

"It certainly is a big disappointment for the Korean public who have been expecting reciprocal steps from Japan."

He added, "The Korean government will, and should, lodge complaints about the issue. But the Yoon administration seems to be losing leverage in diplomacy with Japan after its big concession."

The Korean foreign ministry expressed deep regret over the Japanese government's approval of textbooks.

"We will lodge complaints through diplomatic channels and urge Japan to face history and show more responsible actions on educating the future generation," ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk said during a regular press briefing.

In a written statement, Lim expressed "deep regret" over the textbooks that contain unreasonable historical claims the country has been making for decades. He also stressed that the Korean government does not accept Japan's sovereignty claims to Dokdo, which is clearly part of Korean territory in terms of history, geography and international law.

The Korean Ministry of Education, for its part, demanded Japan to immediately rectify the textbooks that deny the history and sovereignty of Korea and vowed to take a stern response on the matter through cooperation with related organizations and civic groups.

Despite our government's continuous requests for correction for the past decades, the Japanese government has been repeating its unjustifiable claims about our history and sovereignty," said ministry spokesman Kim Chon-hong in a statement.

But the foreign ministry defended the government's diplomatic handling of the issue.

"The textbooks are irrelevant to the incumbent government's diplomacy with Japan. Today's announcement on the approval was a result of the screening process that was launched in April or May last year," a senior ministry official said.

Later in the day, First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong summoned Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to lodge an official complaint on the issue. According to the foreign ministry, it initially planned to call in Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Aiboshi, but summoned Kumagai because the envoy was visiting Japan.

Naoki Kumagai, deputy chief of mission at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul enters the foreign ministry building, Tuesday. Yonhap